Physicochemical and microbiological description of <i>Caxiri –</i> a cassava and corn alcoholic beverage

Abstract

Summary Caxiri is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from cassava, corn and sweet potatoes by indigenous people in Brazil. S accharomyces cerevisiae Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, Lactobacillus fermentum, Bacillus subtilis and L. helveticus were the main microbial species detected. Maltose was the main carbohydrate found (19.12 g L −1 ), and lactic acid (15.09 g L −1 ) and ethanol (92.16 g L −1 ) were also found in high concentrations. Gas chromatography‐flame ionisation detector was used to identify thirteen volatile compounds. Among these volatiles, the higher concentrations were decanoic acid (123.04 μg L −1 ) for the acids, diethyl malate (88.32 μg L −1 ) for the esters, furfural (109.31 μg L −1 ) for the aldehydes, 2‐phenylethanol (1022.76 μg L −1 ) for the alcohols and 1,1‐diethoxyethane (226.24 μg L −1 ) for the others. This study contributes to increasing knowledge of the microbiota present in the alcoholic fermentation produced from cassava, corn and sweet potatoes.