Construção de um reator acetificador para a produção de vinagre de malte

Abstract

Aiming to contribute to the scientific literature when it comes to fast-process or German vinegar reactors, it is expected that the data obtained will contribute to the advancement of technology and to the expansion of the diversification of the use of vinegar such as malt vinegar in Brazil. This work aimed to build an acetifying reactor using the German method, monitoring the acetic process through pH and temperature sensors through an Arduino microcontroller. Obtain a malt vinegar, using pure malt craft beer as raw material and compare it with the Brazilian legislation on fermented beverages. The German type bioreactor was built, in polypropylene, with a capacity of 15 liters. A malt beer with 6.5% alcohol concentration and unpasteurized wine vinegar was used for the wort as a starter culture. A programming code for arduino was adapted for this specific work, it allows to monitor the pH and temperature simultaneously during the acetification of the malt beer every 30 minutes. The third batch was chosen for the analysis of the data collected by the sensors because it has a pH and acidity behavior similar to the literature. The pH values obtained ranged from 0.50 to 3.66 and the temperature remained at 23.31 ºC after an adaptation period from day 0 to day 1. The values obtained for average density were 1.0269 g/mL for pycnometer and 1.0250 g/mL for the hydrometer; Volatile acidity in acetic acid 4.02 g/100 mL and 4.15 g/mL by analysis performed in a third-party laboratory; Total dry extract a value of 69.46 g/L; Ash obtained a value of 10.2344 g/L; Alcohol content at 1.55 v/v; Total sugars with 11.1 g/L; Sulfates at 0.011 g/L. The results found are outside those stipulated by the legislation because the acetification was interrupted before there was a stabilization in its acetic acid value, which reached 3.92, which still justifies a high value for the alcohol content. The volatile acidity values appear within the standards required by the legislation, but they were evaluated days later, without the interruption of the bacteria, which continued to acetify, proving that if the batch remained for a few more days, the reactor would be able to produce with the standards required at the legislation.