Chemical and nutritional properties of 'tej', an indigenous Ethiopian honey wine: variations within and between production units.

A total of 200 samples of ^'tej', an indigenous Ethiopian honey wine, were collected from ten production units at different production times. The pH values of samples varied between 3.07 and 4.90 and 77% of the samples had pH values <4.0. Difference in pH value among all samples was significant (p<0.01). The range for titratable acidity was 0.1 g/l00ml to 1.03 g/l00ml and mean values for the different production units were 0.34 - 0.6 g/l00ml. About 65% of the samples had titratable acidity values of 4 g/l00ml and variations within samples of production units (CV>10%) or among all samples (p<0.01) were significant. Mean total alcohol content for the various production units was 6.98% -10.9%. About 58% of the samples had alcohol content of 5 - 10%. Fusel oil content of samples ranged between 0.1 g/l00L and 88 g/l00L. Mean values for the production units were 13.6 - 27.4 g/l00L. About 50% of the samples had fusel oil content of >20 g/l00L. Variation in total alcohol and fusel oil content within samples of production units was significant (CV>l0%) and difference in these values were also significant (p<0.0l). Mean values for total carbohydrate, total lipid, total protein and reducing sugars were 1.49-3.73 mg/ml, <1.00 mg/ml, 0.33-4.66 mg/ml and 0.46-2.09 mg/ml, respectively. Variations in these values within samples of production units (CV>l0%) or among all samples (p<0.0l) were significant. As 'tej' fermentation is a spontaneous process that depends on microflora naturally present on the substrates and equipment, the different metabolic products of the randomized microflora at different stages, the physical and chemical environment, duration of fermentation and concoction practices would result in physico-chemical variations in the final product.