Habimana Jean de Dieu^{1, 2}, Ituze Kubana Marie Claudine², Ineza Claire^{2, 3}, Karangwa Eric^{1, 4,}

This study aimed to evaluate the physicochemical and bacteriological characteristics of different types of banana wine (Urwagwa) produced in Southern province of Rwanda. Both conventional (not bottled i.e from Bulinga (B) and Gahogo (GA)) and modern produced banana (bottled i.e Igisubizo from Ruli (I) and Ganzinyota from Ruvumera (G)) wines were analyzed and compared. Results showed that the alcohol content (v/v) of I, G, B and GA was 25.9% , 26.1%, 12.0% and 40.1 %, respectively while their total soluble contents were 15.2%, 12.2%, 21.7% and 21.8%, respectively. Titratable acidity (g/L) varied from 5.29 to 6.95 while pH varied from 4.45 to 3.30. The volatile acidity was found to be 0.49, 0.040, 0.147 and 0.19 g of acetic acid for wines I, G, B and GA, respectively. The turbidity was significantly higher in conventional wines than in modern ones. Sulfur dioxide content, heavy metals and minerals respected the standard norms however, potassium content (mg/L) was higher in wines B (1207) and GA (1107,21) and Pb was not recognized in all samples. Furthermore, wines GA accounted higher Escherichia coli (3 x 10⁷ cfu/ml) and Staphylococci aureus (1.5 x 10⁷ cfu/ml). In conclusion, these results indicated that the safety of un-bottled wine was far lower compared to that of bottled ones.

banana wine, physicochemical analysis, safety, processing techniques