**Spirits and Liqueurs from Melon Fruits (***Cucumis melo* **L.)**

Ana Briones, Juan Ubeda-Iranzo and Luis Hernández-Gómez *Laboratory of Yeast Biotechnology, University of Castilla La Mancha, Ciudad Real Spain* 

#### **1. Introduction**

182 Distillation – Advances from Modeling to Applications

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Melon fruits, *Cucumis melo* L, are perishable and must be brought to market very quickly, which leads to saturation of the market and a surplus of melons. Increasing melon production has brought a serious marketing problem. Its fermentation and distillation could represent a potential solution to the problem. A review of the literature and other information sources failed to turn up prior experience with transformation of melon by means of alcoholic fermentation, making it necessary to develop a research protocol for investigating the suitability of melon juice, paste without or with skins and seeds as a fermentation substrate and behaviour of the resulting melon wine during distillation, with a view to obtaining a melon spirit or liqueur with appropriate flavour and aroma attributes.

Distillation of fermented fruit wines has been used in some countries for many years to obtain palatable beverages with high alcohol contents. The most important distilled spirits are elaborated from diverse raw material as grapes (Brandy, Grappa, Orujo), malt (Whiskey), cane sugar (Rum), etc. Other distilled beverages come from the distillation of fermented fruits, named in some zones "wine fruits" , such as cherries, apples or pears. Several countries produce spirits obtained by steam distillation of the anaerobically fermented grape pomace, left over after grapes have been crushed during wine-making. These spirits contain 30-45 % (v/v) alcohol and are highly appreciated, especially after gourmetmeals.

In Spain, the distillation of the grape wine and its by-products is frequent, but is unusual the distillation of "wine fruits". Actually, the maceration of agricultural products, generally fruits, or the addition of artificial essences and aromas to wine spirits is made to elaborate different kinds of liquors, though natural cherry or pear spirits have been developed years ago.

Most commercially available spirits (grappa, orujo, bagaceira, kirsch, plum, brandy) are filtered, bottled, and sold without maceration. However, on occasion fruits, seeds, and leaves are used as substrates to modify the product and improve its sensory qualities diversifying their range and attributes. This process is used in Spain to make a number of drinks, such as "pacharán" (maceration of sloe, *Prunus spinosa*, berries*)* or "anisette" (maceration of anise, *Pimpinella anisum*, seeds). During maceration, aromatic substances are

Spirits and Liqueurs from Melon Fruits (*Cucumis melo* L.) 185

The initial pH of the different substrates varied between 4.4 and 5.2. and this supposes a problem for the easy growing of lactic and acetic acid bacteria; for that, pH was adjusted or not before the fermentation by adding citric acid to reach values around 4 in order to inhibit

Fermentation of the juice, pws and paste was carried out at 20 °C. The substrates were inoculated with a commercial yeast (*Saccharomyces cerevisiae* UCLM 325) up to a concentration of approximately 106 cells/mL. The process was monitored daily by measuring residual sugars, and the end of fermentation was determined on the basis of the sugar consumption (OIV, 1969). The initial assimilable nitrogen was measured using the

Judging from the initial ºBrix, between 10,0-10,2 an alcohol degree of 5% (v/v) could be expected. Nonetheless, experimental data showed that the ethanol yield was acceptable only in juice and pws (4.2 % v/v), being very low (3.4 %) in the case of the paste, possibly due to

The fermented paste showed the highest values of acetic acid possibly as a consequence of a contamination by acetic bacteria. Adjusting the pH, successfully bacterial growth in all three melon wines produced was diminished. Under unadjusted pH conditions, the bacterial populations increased in the pws and paste substrates but decreased in the juice. This may be attributable to a higher level of contamination from the melon skins or to sluggish

In this kind of alcoholic beverages, concentrations of the volatiles has to be refereed to the ethanol content. Otherwise, the volatile composition is closely related to the type of substratum, the conditions of the fermentation and the yeast strain used. Respecting the major volatiles, acetaldehyde ranged widely from 243 to 1196 mg/L of ethanol, being highest in the pH-unadjusted substrates, possibly due to the action of spoilage microorganism (Silva et *al.*, 2000). Methanol is not a direct product of fermentation (Ribéreau-Gayon et *al*., 2000). Two types of fruit enzymes are able to act upon pectins to release methanol: polygalacturonases, by cleavage of the glycosidic bonds on the chains; and pectin-Methylesterases, by catalyzing hydrolysis of the esterified chemical function (Hernández Gómez et *al.*, 2003). The presence of high amounts of methanol in the wine fruit produced from the paste at both pH levels may be the result of the action of these enzymes

In general the higher alcohols (HAs) quantified [1-Propanol, isoAmyl alcohols , 1-Butanol, and 2-Methyl-1-Propanol] were higher with pH adjusted, especially in the case of the wine made from the pws. 1-Butanol and 2-Butanol were not detected, a highly positive finding, because these two substances adversely affect the final aroma of the distillate. Total esters were higher in the pH-unadjusted wine made from paste than in the rest of the wines. Ethyl lactate was the main contributor to this high value and probably depends on the initial

When ANOVA statistical analysis was applied it was noticed that except for Ethyl acetate, there were differences in the volatiles for all the melon wine types, especially between the

count of lactic acid bacteria, present in this kind of substratum (Briones et *al*. 2002).

**3. Characterisation of fermented from melon fruits** 

the complexity of the structure of the fermentation media.

fermentation in a complex media like paste substratum.

these bacteria.

NitroGenius® kit.

in the skin.

wines made from the paste and the rest.

leached out of the fruit into the spirit, which may then be redistilled or bottled as the finished product. Maceration time is a key factor both for component extraction and for achieving the right sugar content and colour of the spirit. The amount and the parts of the fruit used in maceration are two other aspects to be considered. For fleshy fruits like pears, apples, raspberries, strawberries, and cherries, pieces of fresh fruit may be used, or the seeds or nuts (blackthorn, hazelnuts, almonds) may be employed. Substrate conditioning is also an important factor, and may include pieces of fruit of different sizes, seeds, placenta, or skins depending on the type of product being manufactured.

Melons are a major crop in the La Mancha region (Spain) and the large crop size results in high levels of surplus production which must be commercialised in a very short period of time. The fermentation of melons and its distillation to produce genuine spirits could be a solution to the problem of the saturation of the market that would prevent wastage. The process of developing a new product has to be undertaken step by step, and for that reason trials to examine fruit processing, clarification, fermentation, column and alembic distillations were performed at laboratory and pilot scale (Briones, et al., 2002; Hernández Gómez, et al., 2003). Chemical and sensory analyses were carried out to assess the quality of the spirits and liqueurs produced comparing the results with those in other commercially available spirits.
