Port-like fortified alcoholic beverage produced from Ussurian pear fruit

Abstract

The Siberian region abounds in fruit and berries, whose potential for use in winemaking is underestimated. The present study aims to assess the suitability of Ussurian pear fruit (Pyrus ussuriensis Maxim.) growing in the South Baikal region for the production of a port-like alcoholic fruit beverage. Ussurian pear fruit has a sweet-sour, astringent flavor and a fairly distinctive aroma with honey and floral notes. An essential characteristic of small-fruited pears in the Siberian region is the significant levels of extractive substances and polyphenolic compounds, which makes them suitable raw materials for the production of fortified dessert vinous beverages. The subject matter of the study was wort obtained from Ussurian pear fruit, having a sugar content of 16.3 g/cm³. Fruit beverages were obtained using an accelerated technology, which included wort conditioning in terms of titratable acidity and sugar levels, wort fermentation, fortification of the fermented fruit material, and thermal treatment of the latter in the presence of oak, apple, and pear chips and pine nut shells. The thermal treatment was performed by heating the fruit material three times to 60 °С for 30 h, followed by cooling to 15 °С. The obtained fortified fruit beverages met the requirements of GOST R 58013-2017 Fruit Wine Drinks. General Specifications in terms of most physicochemical parameters and had a distinctive pear aroma, high transparency, and honey color. The best organoleptic characteristics were achieved in the beverage sample obtained using pine nut shells. Thus, Ussurian pear fruit has high potential as a raw material for producing a port-like fortified fruit beverage.