RICE BASED BEVERAGE WITH HIGH ALCOHOL CONTENT AND METHOD THEREFOR

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention in general relates to a rice based beverage with alcohol content > 35% by volume.
More particularly, the present invention relates to production of rice based beverage from glutinous rice, with high alcohol content (>35%).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Consumption of alcohol is a common practice worldwide for the psychological and euphoric effects.
It is known that, these beverages are produced by fermentation of plant based sugar substrates such as grains, fruits, berries etc. to alcohol. The conversion of sugars to alcohol takes place by the action of different microbes which play important role during the entire process. This fermented product may further be distilled to concentrate the amount of alcohol and purifying by removal of diluting components.
Having regard to its easy availability and low cost, rice remains a choice of substrate for fermentation.
Several rice based fermented drinks are popular and commercially available. The alcohol content of non-distilled fermented alcoholic beverages generally ranges to 8-20% (v/v). Hence, such rice based alcoholic beverages, have not been so popular despite its low cost. So people have to look for high cost alcoholic beverages for satisfying their need, or alternatively, the comparatively poorer people go for high alcohol content harmful, cheap products, consequences of which are mostly fatal.
Accordingly, there is a need for a rice based alcoholic beverage which is not only safe and low cost, but also which has a reasonably high content of alcohol.
The present invention meets this need by providing a method for fermenting glutinous rice applying certain specific herbs, so as to yield an alcoholic beverage with 35% alcohol (v/v), without distillation. This product is not only safe and low cost but also has a reasonably high content of alcohol, to satisfy the need of the user.

THE OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a method for fermenting glutinous rice applying certain specific herbs, so as to yield an alcoholic beverage with 35% alcohol (v/v), without distillation.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for preparation of glutinous rice based alcoholic beverage with high alcohol content applying specific herb based starter cakes.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a rice based alcoholic beverage having high alcohol content (>35%) (v/v) which is safe and low cost.
How the foregoing objects are achieved and the other aspects of the present invention will be clear from the following description which is purely by way of understanding and not by way of any sort of limitation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for preparation of fermented alcoholic beverage from glutinous rice, said beverage having a high content of alcohol, said method comprising:
i) preparation of plant based starter cake using specific herbs of suitable proportions,
ii) cooking of glutinous rice and mixing it with starter cake, followed by incubation for a substantial period of time,
iii) extraction of alcoholic beverage from the fermented mass obtained from step ii).
The present invention also provides fermented alcoholic beverage from glutinous rice having alcoholic content of >35% by volume, said beverage being obtained by the method as described hereinbefore.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWING

The nature and scope of the present invention, will be better understood from the accompanying drawing which includes a non-limiting figure 1 which is only for understanding the preferred embodiment described.
Figure 1 is a standard curve for estimation of alcohol in the fermented glutinous rice extract.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The methodology according to the present invention comprises the following steps:

i) preparation of plant based starter cake using specific herbs of suitable proportions,
ii) cooking of glutinous rice and mixing it with starter cake, followed by incubation for a substantial period of time,
iii) extraction of alcoholic beverage from the fermented mass obtained from step ii).

The methodology is now further elaborated with reference to the following preferred embodiment. The present invention is not restricted to this embodiment only but also includes all legitimate variations within the ambit of the steps i), ii) and iii) as described above. Furthermore, the results provided here in after are all exemplary and should not be construed as any sort of restriction.
Local name (Botanical Name) gm/kg rice
Doron haak (Leucas plukenetii) 22
Misi gos (Scoparia dulcis) 34
Mou tulsi (Stevia rebaudiana) 30
Nangol bhanga paat (Clerodendrum indicum) 23
Tit bhekuri (Solanum indicum) 85
Chirota (Swertia chirata) 15
Bhetei tita (Clerodendrum viscosum) 74
Tita bahak (Justicia gendarussa) 14

Preparation of starter cake
i) Leaves (mostly from the apical part) from the plants mentioned in Table 1 were taken.

Table 1 : Plants used in making of the starter cake

ii) Leaves were washed properly with water to remove any dirt on the surface and the water was decanted.
iii) Leaves were crushed along with 1 kg of rice (var. Ranjeet) using mortar and pestle to make fine powder.
iv) The powder was sieved and the leftover was again crushed till the entire ingredients become uniform fine powder.
v) To this powder, water was mixed to make dough and flattened balls of diameter 4-5 cm (by kneading).
vi) The balls which serve as starter cake are dried for 7-8 days (under sun) and used for fermentation of rice based alcoholic beverage.

Fermentation of rice using the starter cake
a) 1 kg of glutinous rice was cooked with 1300 ml of water.
b) 30 gm of starter cake was crushed to make fine powder.
c) Cooked rice was allowed to cool down to room temperature and the starter powder was added to it.
d) The entire content was kept at 30º C for incubation without shaking.
e) After two days of fermentation, the released liquid was collected by filtering using destarched and sterile muslin cloth (with gentle squeezing) and analyzed for ethanol content. The yield was 800 ml/kg of rice (dry weight)

Alcohol estimation: Estimation of alcohol in the fermented glutinous rice extract (Arthur Caputi, Jr. et al., 1968)
Reagents: Potassium dichromate solution (100ml).
K2Cr2O7 -3.376 gm
H2SO4 - 32.5 ml
Water - q.s.
(i) Analytical reagent grade ethanol was diluted from 0.2% - 1.2% (v/v) using distilled water for preparing the standard curve.
(ii) Fermented rice extract was briefly centrifuged and the supernatant was diluted to 1:25, 1:50 and 1:75 (v/v) using distilled water.
(iii) A 100 µl of each sample was taken in triplicates and125 µl potassium dichromate solution was added and vortexed for proper mixing.
(iv) The tubes were then incubated at 62.5º C for 20 minutes in digital water bath.
(v) Optical density was measured at 600 nm and standard curve was plotted.
(vi) Alcohol content (v/v) was calculated using the standard curve as illustrated in figure 1 and multiplied with respective dilution factors.

Table 2: Calculated alcohol % (v/v) in the fermented glutinous rice extract.
Sample Calculated (multiplied by dilution factor) alcohol % (v/v)
Fermented rice ( 1: 25 dilution) 32.63
Fermented rice ( 1: 50 dilution) 37.27
Fermented rice ( 1: 75 dilution) 35.95
Average alcohol % (v/v) 35.28

From table 2, it would be found that rather surprisingly, the average alcohol % (V/V) is 35.28. This is the surprising technical advantage of the invention. The methodology as applied above, yields, an alcoholic glutinous rice based alcoholic beverage which has > 35% by volume of alcohol and thus, at a very low cost, a safe and user acceptable beverage is obtained.

Positive controls used in estimation of alcohol content to ascertain the accuracy of analysis:
Two commercially available popular whisky brands and molecular biology grade absolute ethanol (HiMedia Laboratories, India) with different dilutions were used to validate the method of alcohol estimation. The results indicate good accuracy of the analysis and the data.

Table 3: Calculated alcohol content (v/v) in the controls.

Sample Claimed ethanol % (v/v) as per the manufacturers Estimated ethanol % (v/v) in this method Average ethanol %
(v/v)
Whisky 1 ( 1: 50 dilution)

42.8
43.85
42.55
Whisky 1 ( 1: 75 dilution) 41.22
Whisky 2 ( 1: 50 dilution) 39.65
40.26
Whisky 2 ( 1: 75 dilution) 40.87
Molecular grade alcohol (diluted to 1%)
99.8

0.94
0.94
Molecular grade alcohol (diluted to 0.5%)
0.47
0.47

Hence, the analyses carried out according to the present invention is also perfect.
From the description hereinbefore, it would be clear that all the objects of the instant invention have been met.
The present invention has been described with reference to a drawing, test results and a preferred embodiment, purely for the sake of understanding and not by way of any limitation and the present invention includes all legitimate developments within the scope of what has been described hereinbefore and claimed in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A method for preparation of fermented alcoholic beverage from glutinous rice, said beverage having a high content of alcohol, said method comprising:
i) preparation of plant based starter cake using specific herbs of suitable proportions,
ii) cooking of glutinous rice and mixing it with starter cake, followed by incubation for a substantial period of time,
iii) extraction of alcoholic beverage from the fermented mass obtained from step ii).

Local name (Botanical Name) gm/kg rice
Doron haak (Leucas plukenetii) 22
Misi gos (Scoparia dulcis) 34
Mou tulsi (Stevia rebaudiana) 30
Nangol bhanga paat (Clerodendrum indicum) 23
Tit bhekuri (Solanum indicum) 85
Chirota (Swertia chirata) 15
Bhetei tita (Clerodendrum viscosum) 74
Tita bahak (Justicia gendarussa) 14
2. The method as claimed in claim wherein step i) comprises:
a) taking leaves (mostly from the apical part) from the plants mentioned below :

b) washing the leaves properly with water to remove any dirt on the surface and decanting the water,
c) crushing the leaves along with 1 kg of rice using mortar and pestle to make fine powder,
d) sieving the powder and crushing the leftover till the entire ingredients become uniform fine powder,
e) adding water to powder obtained from step d) to make dough and flattened balls of diameter 4-5 cm, by kneading,
f) drying the balls for 7-8 days.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein step ii) comprises:
a) cooking of 1 kg of glutinous rice with 1300 ml of water,
b) crushing 30 gm of starter cake to make fine powder,
c) allowing cooked rice to cool down to room temperature and adding starter powder to it,
d) keeping the entire content kept at 30º C for incubation for 48 hours without shaking.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein step iii) comprises collecting the released liquid by filtering using de starched and sterile muslin cloth with gentle squeezing, so as to obtain fermented alcoholic rice beverage with ethanolic yield of 800 ml/kg of dry weight of rice.

5. Fermented alcoholic beverage from glutinous rice having alcoholic content of >35% by volume, said beverage being obtained by:
i) preparation of plant based starter cake using specific herbs of suitable proportions,

ii) cooking of glutinous rice and mixing it with starter cake, followed by incubation for a substantial period of time,
iii) extraction of alcoholic beverage from the fermented mass obtained from step ii).