Results and Discussion
Pattern of sugar utilization and
alcohol production
The hot water extract of amla
berries with the TSS of 20% proved to be
a good growth medium for S. cerevisiae
and got converted into wine with the
composition as given in Table 1. The yeast
strain grew well and utilized sugar at the
rate of 104 mg/h producing ethanol at the
rate of 53 ml/h. Quantitatively, ethyl
alcohol is the most important component
present in all the alcoholic beverages and
is associated with stimulatory and
intoxicating properties of these
beverages9,14. The ethyl alcohol content in
wines generally varies with the type of the
product and ranges from 10-14%, in most
table wines, but in some fortified wines,
alcohol obtained by distillation may be
added to increase its level. Most of the
sugar utilized in the present study was
converted into alcohol, with a
fermentation efficiency of 80% revealing
an overall yield of 9.0 %(v/v) at the end
of 168h of fermentation (Fig. 1). The pH
of the medium revealed a gradual fall with
the progress in fermentation, showing a
final value of 3.4 at the end of
fermentation