Method of obtaining a banana spirit made from a must of cooked bananas.

Abstract

In the field of distillation, there is no mention of banana spirits distilled from cooked banana must. The innovation lies in a series of biochemical processes that yield a banana spirit combining high alcoholic purity and high organoleptic quality after anaerobic fermentation of cooked bananas followed by a single distillation, without the addition of any excipients whatsoever in the final product. The process for obtaining this new alcohol appears to be innovative and industrially viable for potential producers.

Description

Title of the invention: Process for obtaining a banana spirit made from a must of cooked bananas.

[0001] Technical field.

[0002] The invention consists of an ordered series of biochemical processes for obtaining a spirit-type banana alcohol from the cooking and then fermentation of bananas, followed by distillation of the fermented product. The invention belongs to the field of agri-food.

[0003] Prior art.

[0004] Banana spirits and banana brandies available on the market are, with a few exceptions, not derived directly from the distillation of banana musts. They are obtained from neutral alcohols, rums, vodkas or any other existing spirits to which banana, banana flavors or banana concentrates are added. Or they are obtained by the maceration of bananas in alcohols before distillation. No spirits-type alcohol made entirely from the fermentation of cooked bananas has been detected. The process proposed for patenting therefore allows the production of a banana spirit directly from the banana, cooked and then fermented, without requiring the prior production of another alcohol. In no case has research revealed the existence of spirits-type alcohol made according to the process presented.These prior art searches were conducted using the Google search engine and the following search terms: “alcohol+banana”; “spirits+banana”; “banana+brandy”; “alcohol+cooked+banana”; “alcohol+jam+banana”; “fermentation+distillation+banana”. These latter terms and sets of terms were also searched in the English language to cover more results.

[0005] The invention therefore appears to constitute an innovation in the field of making spirits.

[0006] Technical solution.

[0007] A protocol consisting of a series of distinct biochemical processes has been developed with the aim of obtaining, in a traditional way, a banana spirit with a very aromatic nose, in a single distillation. The steps of the protocol must follow the following chronology: 1. Selection of bananas at maturity stages 6 (yellow) or 7 (yellow with black spots). Bananas from the Cavendish family (genotype AAB), also called dessert bananas, exclusively, due to their powerful banana ester aroma, so characteristic of this fruit. 2. Peeling the bananas; only the flesh is used for the rest of the process. Any damaged parts are removed at this stage. It is necessary to keep only the best parts of the fruit. 3. Making banana jam in the following proportions: 10 kilograms of banana flesh to 6 kilograms of sugar. The bananas must cook until their color changes from yellow to red / brown (Maillard reaction). To achieve this result, the cooking time, in these proportions, is three hours, over high heat. The first half hour is done without water, stirring regularly to brown the outside of the bananas. A liter of water is added during cooking to avoid charring the bananas. It is not necessary to skim during cooking. However, the mixture must be stirred every half hour, so as to obtain even cooking. The bananas softened by cooking are then reduced to a purée. 4. Transfer the jam to a thirty-liter anaerobic fermentation device when the mixture has cooled below thirty degrees Celsius and add schnapps yeast (for fruit brandies) to start the fermentation. The mixture is cooled directly in the cooking pot equipped with its lid so as not to contaminate the mixture, at room temperature. This process takes about ten hours in tropical latitudes. The fermentation device consists of a thirty-liter food bucket with a hermetically sealed lid pierced with a hole to accommodate an airlock, a device allowing the evacuation of the overpressure gas in the bucket. 5. Add water that has been previously aerated for twenty-four hours to evaporate the chlorine, which could kill the yeast. Add enough water for a final volume of twenty-five liters to the fermentation device, after adding the cooked bananas. Homogenize everything and hermetically seal the anaerobic fermentation device. 6. Leave the yeasts to work at room temperature (15 / 25 degrees Celsius) away from direct sunlight and monitor the end of alcoholic fermentation. Fermentation lasts three weeks to a month. Obtain a must with an alcohol content of fifteen to eighteen degrees depending on the season of the year. 7. Filtration of the liquid fraction of the banana must through a cloth or sieve mesh fine enough to rid the must of its impurities visible to the naked eye. Press the solid fraction of the must through this sieve so as to collect a maximum of liquid from this second fraction. The filtration and pressing of the must are carried out above a large funnel itself placed on the cucurbit of the amlambic. 8. Assembly of the still and distillation of the must in the art control rooms. The distillation head is set aside, only the heart is kept for the production of the beverage. The tails are kept to be incorporated into the next must after filtration. This operation takes approximately six hours.

[0008] The initial quantities of the different ingredients will be adjusted in proportion to the final quantities prepared. Obtaining a white, translucent, slightly sweet, very aromatic alcohol, with an alcohol content of 54 to 58 degrees. The aromas of banana jam and caramelized banana are predominant.

[0009] Distillation takes place in a copper still with a large capital in order to promote the passage of aromatic molecules into the final product. For the same purpose, the reduction in the internal diameter of the pipe between the capital and the neck of the sign must not be brutal but progressive. Copper, which constitutes all the parts of the still, prevents sulfur compounds from passing into the final product, unlike the stainless steel sometimes used. The protocol implemented is indeed innovative and seems to bring a significant qualitative gain in the organoleptic aspect and the purity of the product obtained. This new alcohol will take as a fancy name: “Ménidolcine”, in reference to its place of creation, Moindou, a small village in New Caledonia, whose inhabitants are called Ménidolciens. The alcohol content in the final product is lowered, by aqueous dilution, to 45 degrees of alcohol in order to have a constant quality and to make its consumption more pleasant.

Claims

Claims

1. Relating to the protocol consisting of a set of biochemical processes, making it possible to obtain a banana spirit with a high alcohol content (greater than 40 degrees of alcohol) and naturally aromatic in a single distillation, from an anaerobic fermentation of cooked bananas. Characterized in that cooking the bananas allows the formation of new aromatic compounds (Maillard reactions) which would not form without the cooking step; fermentation takes place on cooked bananas; the vapors resulting from the distillation of the must only travel exclusively through parts of the still made of copper, without encountering a sudden narrowing of the diameter of the piping, which allows the aromatic compounds, including those resulting from the Maillard reactions, to end up in the final product.

2. Relating to the fancy name of the final product, obtained by the strict application of the protocol mentioned in claim 1. Characterized in that there is no alcohol obtained directly from a cooked banana must. It is therefore necessary to assign it a name since none allows this alcohol to be differentiated from those which already exist. The protection of the fancy name of this new alcohol (“Menidolcine”), the order of the stages, the proportions of the ingredients, the general shape (wide capital and progressive narrowing at the neck of the sign) and the materials of the still, involved in its production process are requested.