Vinegar
Vinegar
Vinegar
VINEGAR PRODUCTION
3.1. Raw Materials
The major raw materials for the production of vinegar are alcohol
containing liquid, Acetobacter, a genus of aerobic bacteria, oxygen,
and some times herbs and fruits as a flavoring agent.
Alcohol Containing Liquid
Vinegar can be made from a variety of diluted alcohol products, the
most common being wine and beer. Alternatively an alcohol product
can be prepared through fermenting carbohydrate in rice, sugar cane,
or malt anaerobically by yeast. The resulting alcohol product is
pasteurized, filtered and then diluted to adjust the alcohol content
and then used for vinegar production.
Bacterial Cultures
Acetobacter acetii cultures are used for vinegar production. These
perfectly work at a temperature of 28 C (82 F) with full air injection.
The lowest temperature that the bacteria can tolerate is 20 C
(68 F) and the maximum temperature is 33 C (91 F). Below and
above these temperatures, there is no conversion from alcohol into
acetic acid. The starting alcohol should be lower than 7.5 % (v/v)
and there should be no free Sulfites.
In the natural processes, Acetobacters are allowed to grow over
time. However, mother of vinegar is added as a source of Acetobacter
for commercial production. Mother of vinegar is the gooey film that
appears on the surface of the alcohol product as it is converted to
vinegar. Mother of vinegar is skimmed off the top and added to
subsequent batches of alcohol to speed the formation of vinegar. It
consist natural carbohydrate called cellulose and this film holds the
highest concentration of Acetobacters. Sometimes in the vinegar
factory acetozym nutrients are added in to the alcohol liquid as a
bacterial culture. Acetozym nutrients are manmade powdered form
of mother of vinegar.
Flavoring Agent
Herbs and fruits are often used to flavor vinegar. Commonly used
herbs include tarragon, garlic, and basil. Popular fruits include
raspberries, cherries, and lemons.
Processing Methods
Vinegar is the product obtained as a result of impartial oxidation of
alcohol in a fermenting sugar containing fruit or cane juice, molasses,
fermented mash of malted grain, honey, syrups, etc. It is made from
the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. The ethanol may
be derived from many different sources including wine, cider, beer
or fermented fruit juice. For wine vinegar and beer vinegar the
production process only includes fermentation for the conversion of
the alcohol present in the raw materials in to acetic acid. However,
in other types of vinegar such as fruit vinegars or cane vinegars two
major processing steps are carried out; one for the production of
ethanol alcohol from raw materials and the other for the conversion
of the ethanol produced in to acetic acid. Vinegar contains, mainly,
acetic acid by weight and small quantities of alcohol, glycerol, easters,
sugars, and salts. To find pure acetic acid the vinegar is subjected
to purification by distillation.
The transformation of wine or fruit juice to vinegar is a chemical
into the top of the vat and slowly drips down through the fillings.
2) Oxygen is allowed into the vats in two ways. One is through
bungholes that have been punched into the sides of the vats.
The second is through the perforated bottoms of the vats. An
air compressor blows air through the holes.
3) When the alcohol product reaches the bottom of the vat, usually
within in a span of several days to several weeks, it has
converted to vinegar. It is poured off from the bottom of the vat
into storage tanks. The vinegar produced in this method has
very high acetic acid content, often as high as 14%, and must
be diluted with water to bring its acetic acid content to a range
of 5-6%.
4) To produce distilled vinegar, the diluted liquid is poured into a
boiler and brought to its boiling point. A vapor rises from the
liquid and is collected in a condenser. It then cools and becomes
liquid again. This liquid is then bottled as distilled vinegar.
3.1.3. The Submerged Fermentation Method
In the submerged fermentation method a tank filled with alcohol is
pumped with oxygen and maintained at warm temperature. Primarily
used to produce wine vinegars, this process was developed in the
1950s, using tanks called acetators. The wine is kept at a temperature
between 26 and 38 degree centigrade while nutrients and air are
pumped in to the mixture. The submerged fermentation method is
commonly used in the production of wine vinegars.
Submerged vinegar systems are most commonly used by
corporations who produce high quantities of vinegar with a high
moment the venturi air system is the most common processing system
for small and medium vinegar makers around the world.
Manufacturing Steps
1) Production plants are filled with large stainless steel tanks called
acetators. The acetators are fitted with centrifugal pumps in the
bottom that pump air bubbles into the tank in much the same
way that an aquarium pump does.
2) As the pump stirs the alcohol, acetozym nutrients are piped into
the tank. The nutrients spur the growth of Acetobacter on the
oxygen bubbles. A heater in the tank keeps the temperature
between 80 and 100F (26-38C).
3) Within a matter of hours, the alcohol product has been converted
into vinegar. The vinegar is piped from the acetators to a plateand-frame filtering machine. The stainless steel plates press
the alcohol through paper filters to remove any sediment, usually
about 3% of the total product. The sediment is flushed into a
drain while the filtered vinegar moves to the dilution station.
3.2. Quality Control
Two factors require special attention when making vinegar: oxygen
supply and temperature. Oxygen should be spread throughout the
mixture. The temperature of fermenting cider should be kept at around
28 C.
In the Orleans Method, bungholes must be checked routinely to
ensure that insects have not penetrated the netting. In the generator
method, great care is taken to keep the temperature inside the tanks
in the 80-100F range (26-38C). Workers routinely check the
Filtration
Pasteurization
Cooling
Yeast activation
Mixing
Acetic Fermentation
Oxygen
Check for end of fermentation
Final Filtration
2
gas from the fermenting tank passes
through the water filled gap to escapes in to the environment. Since
CO
2
is a light gas and due to the fact that there is greater pressure in
side the tanker, it will not be difficult for the gas to boost out from the
tanker by penetrating the water filled gap. But external air will not be
capable of entering the tanker through this gap due to the presence
of water. After some time all the O
2
in the tanker will be utilized by
the microbes and the environment within the tanker will be completely
anaerobic.
To check whether the alcohol fermentation is over or not a
hydrometer is used. If no hydrometer is available, by observing the
movement of gases in the liquid one can decide to proceed to the
next step when fewer gases are produced. Filtration process is
needed to remove yeasts. The alcohol should be diluted to around
8% by volume before adding the mother liquor. Since oxygen is very
important, its supply should be monitored through out the
fermentation. Samples should be taken after wards to check the acetic
acid content at different time intervals. When the desired level of
acid is reached a final filtration is carried out; standardizing, quality
check and pasteurization bottling steps are the final steps in the
manufacturing process. Labeling is necessary.
salad dressings.
The three common methods used for vinegar production are the
generator or trickling method, the submerged fermentation or the
Acetator method and the Orleans traditional method. The generator
method is quicker in comparison with the others. Submerged vinegar
systems are most commonly used by corporations who produce high
quantities of vinegar with a high content of acetic acid.
Generally, vinegar production allows utilization of over-riped fruits,
sugarcane rejects, ethyl alcohol rejects and cane by-products such
as molasses and bagasse. Since sugarcane is well known and grown
widely in Ethiopia, it is feasible to use cane juice as a raw material
for vinegar production. Especially in sugar producing areas, where
leftover canes rejected by mills are available, it is recommended to
utilize the leftovers for the production of vinegar.
REFERENCES
G.S. Kocher, K.L. Kalra and R.P. Phutela (2006). Comparative Production of
Sugarcane
Vinegar by Different Immobilization Techniques, Journal of Institute of Brewing.
http://www.studentsguide.in/microbiology/industrial-microbiology/method-ofvinegarcommercial-production.html
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-7/Vinegar.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinegar
http://www.mixph.com/2007/11/how-to-make-vinegar-from-sugar-cane.html
http://www.vinegar.at/en/index.php/Production/c-379-Manual.html
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References (1)
Cited In (0)
Studies on the pot vinegar. Part II. Role of floating Koji added on the
surface of newly prepared mash for Fukuyama rice vinegar
production.
C. R. Price
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