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Abstract
Watermelon fruit has been known to be a rich source of bioactive compounds, such as anthocyanins, lycopene, vitamin C, β-caroten, phenolics, and possesses a nutritional profile suitable to produce wine with functional properties. The aim of this study was to determine the optimal conditions including initial cell density, initial dry matter, temperature, initial pH and fermentation time for fermentation of watermelon fruit juice by Saccharomyces cerevisiae NM11. Besides determining the ethanol concentration, bioactive compounds in fermented juice such as total phenolic content, anthocyanins and antioxidant capacity were also investigated. Results showed that the optimal conditions for wine fermentation from water melon fruit juice by this strain included an initial cell density of 107 CFUs/mL, initial dry matter concentration of 18 Bx, a pH of 4.5, and a fermentation time of 5 days. Under optimized conditions, watermelon juice fermented by S. cerevisiae M11 had an ethanol concentration of 13.000±0.500% (v/v), total phenolic content of 0.181±0.055 mg GAE/mL, anthocyanin content of 0.820±0.031 mg CGE/L, antioxidant activity of 36.460±1.000% and aldehyde content of 49.640±3.900 (mg/L ethanol 100%(v/v)). This result is the first information for studies on watermelon wine production by S. cerevisiae NM11 strain.