Formulation and sensory evaluation of Sweet lime peel vinegar, Sweet lime fruit-peel combo vinegar and sweet lime fruit vinegar

Fruit peels are the outer covering of the fruits which behave as a physical as well as a chemical barrier. Along with protecting the fruit from the environment, and micro, and macro organisms, the fruit peel, indeed, has several other health benefiting constituents such as dietary fiber, and phyto-nutrients that help accomplish overall wellness. The study was carried out to develop vinegar from the sweet lime peel, which is usually discarded after squeezing the juice and to compare the sensory qualities of the sweet lime peel vinegar with vinegar prepared from sweet lime fruit-peel combo and sweet lime fruit. Vinegar undergoes two-stage fermentation, firstly by anaerobic fermentation of sugar to ethanol by yeast and secondly by conversion of ethanol to acetic acid aerobically. Saccharomyces cerevisiae was used to carry out anaerobic fermentation, while Acetobacter xylinum culture was added to facilitate aerobic fermentation. The time period for vinegar production was 25 days. The pH of the three vinegar preparations measured using pH meter showed that the initial pH of 3.80 decreased to 3.22.The overall acceptability of sweet lime fruit-peel combo vinegar and sweet lime fruit vinegar were rated as excellent whereas sweet lime peel vinegar was rated as very good on a 5 point hedonic scale by a 20 member taste panel.