CARACTERIZAÇÃO E COMPORTAMENTO SACARIFICANTE DA FLORA MICROBIANA EMPREGADA NA FABRICAÇÃO DA AGUARDENTE DE MANDIOCA (TIQUIRA)

Abstract

The Tiquira is a distilled alcoholic beverage prepared from the saccharification and subsequent fermentation of cassava. The processes of saccharification and fermentation are performed by micro-organisms that grow naturally in beijus exposed to the environment. The growth of these micro-organisms occurs over a period of approximately 8 days and as many strains are collected, the process yield and the quality of distillate are compromised. The objective is therefore to improve the quality of spirit cassava (Tiquira) produced in the state of Maranhão through the identification and selection of the best micro-organisms and fermentation and saccarifiying employed in artisanal process. The selected strains were subjected to studies, which identified the presence of filamentous fungi, bacteria and yeast. We identified three (3) species of filamentous fungi: Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus and Rhizopus oryzae, which were tested before their power of sporulation in different culture media at 30oC, and the SDA medium provided the best composition for obtaining the fungal growth more quickly. Samples of R.oryzae, A.niger and A.flavus previously shown to be the best producers were selected for testing enzymatic saccharification of starch to evaluate and confirm the ability of conversion to glucose. The strain R. oryzae reached a conversion value of 78.02% on average using a standard temperature of 30oC, amount of 5.5 x 107 spores, pH 5 and 50g/l of soluble starch, giving a greater yield of saccharification, followed by A.flavus 71.55%, A.niger 57.17% and mixture of spores 48,02%. Therefore, it is evident that the use of filamentous micro-organisms native becomes an option for use in starch saccharification samples.