Microflora and microbial activity in palmyrah (Borassus flabellifer) palm wine in Sri Lanka

Summary

Palmyrah palm wine, a traditional mild alcoholic beverage of Northern Sri Lanka, is popularly referred to as ‘toddy’. It is obtained by the natural fermentation of the sugary sap of the palmyrah palm (Borassus flabellifer L.). The microflora commonly found in palmyrah toddy were identified asSaccharomyces cerevisiae, Sacch. Chevalieri, Kloeckera apiculata, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Bacillus cereus, B. sphaericus andB. firmus. Of the yeasts, the predominant and best alcoholic fermenter wasSacch. cerevisiae. The efficiency of alcoholle fermentation in natural palmyrah toddy was 56%. This was increased to 69% by adding a pure inoculum ofSacch. cerevisiae into the toddy collecting pots. A further increase in the efficiency to 89% was attained when fresh, sterilized palmyrah sap was fermented withSacch. cerevisiae under laboratory conditions.

Résumé

Le vin de palme de palmyre, boisson faiblement alcoolisée produite au Nord du Sri Lanka, est vulgairement dénommé ‘toddy’, Il est obtenu par fermentation naturelle de la sève sucrée du palmier palmyre (Borassus flabillifer L.). La microflore usuelle du ‘toddy’ de palmyre est constituée parSaccharomyces cerevisiae, Sacch. chevalieri, Kloeckera apiculata, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Bacillus cereus, B. sphaericus etB. firmus. Parmi les levures,Sacch. cerevisiae est la plus abondante et le meilleur agent de la fermentation alcoolique.

Resumen

El vino de la palmera palmyrah es una bebida moderadamente alcohólica tradicional del Norte de Sri Lanka a la que se conoce popularmente como ‘toddy’. Se obtiene mediante la fermentación natural de la savia azucarada de la Palmyrah (Borassus flabellifer). La microflora que se encuentra en el toddy de Palmyrah se identificó como:Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Sacch. chevalieri,Kloeckera apiculata, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Bacillus cereus,B. sphaericus, y,B. firmus. De entre las levaduras, la más predominante y también la mejor fermentadora alcohólica fueSacch. cerevisiae.