Sensory and chemical characteristics of worts fermented by Leuconostoc citreum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae and consumer acceptability with added flavorings

This study was conducted to examine the chemical and sensory characteristics of fermented worts and consumer acceptability according to added flavorings. The worts were fermented by yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) following fermentation by lactic acid bacteria (Leuconostoc citreum) at different aeration conditions. Chemical and sensory descriptive analyses were conducted to examine the effects of the fermentation conditions. The consumer acceptability of the worts with added flavorings was also examined. Organic acids, functional sugars, and ethanol were produced by L. citreum and S. cerevisiae, respectively. Ethanol concentrations ranged from 10 to 25 g/L depending on the fermentation conditions. The sensory characteristics of the fermented worts were clearly differentiated by the fermentation conditions. Yeast fermentation resulted in high intensities for certain sensory attributes such as 'alcohol', 'fermented barley', 'fermented white grape', and 'grassy'. Consumer acceptability changed with different levels of sugar and lemon flavoring, and the optimum levels were determined as 14.08% sugar and 0.98% lemon flavoring. Under these conditions, it was shown that a relatively acceptable fermented wort beverage containing functional materials can be produced.