Abstract
The sugar cane spirit, among the distilled, is the most consumed alcoholic beverage in Brazil, being the third of the world. Brazil makes about 1.4 billion of liters of sugar cane spirit per year, with 30% of this volume referring to still artesanal. This market handles R$ 7 billion per year and its responsable for 600 thousand direct and indirect jobs. As special sugar cane spirit has attracted attention, along with recently passed laws has influenced the expansion of the domestic and international market that still presents great potential to be explored. For these drinks to become "special" it is necessary that they undergo aging processes for at least one year in wooden barrels, process that ensure color, aroma and differentiated flavors to the product, or rested for some months in neutral woods, with no color change, but adding sensorial tributes to white sugar cane spirits. However, various types of flavoring compounds can still be released during an alcoholic fermentation before the aging process, which is a costly process for the producer. These compounds are higher alcohols, fatty acids and esters, and are produced in small amounts (secondary compounds) during fermentation, and a suitable balance can ensure a special flavor for sugar cane spirit, a process that can be done using enzymes for a release these compounds. In other works of the research group of Unesp/ IBILCE, the action of b-glycosidases was tested in the release of terpenes during the fermentation of sugar cane spirit, and promising results were obtained, acquiring a product of greater acceptance by the public. Thus, the present project intends to use two types of enzymes, b-glycosidases and lipases, to act synergistically during the fermentation of the production of sugar cane spirit in order to release esters and fatty acids, in addition to the terpenes already tested. Enabling the producers to develop a special high value added drink, already in the fermentation stage. For the development of this enzimatic cocktail, comercial lipases and b-glycosidases will be tested (Lipozyme TL 100L lipase and NS50010 b-glucosidase), and these will be applied alcoholic fermentation in which 4 variables will be tested in 2 levels, in order to obtain the ideal condition of the use of the enzymatic cocktail. The following parameters will be tested: stages of fermentation (pre and post-fermentation), presence and absence of the cocktail (Lipase + b-glucosidase), enzyme concentration and reaction time. The flavoring compounds released will be analyzed by GC-MS, and after statistical analysis and definition of the best condition for cocktail application, the fermentation will be redone, the compounds analyzed again, and the beverage produced will be submitted to quality control analysis and of acceptance of the consuming public of sugar cane spirit. This experimental plan will allow us to prove the presence of these flavoring compounds and their influence on the sensorial quality of the beverage. This result will allow the sugar cane spirit producer to obtain a quality product already in the beginning of the production process, before being even submitted to the aging process, a factor that can be of great value to make the production process more economical and obtain a product with higher added value. (AU)