Physico-chemical properties of sobia: A traditional fermented beverage in western province of Saudi Arabia

Sobia samples (14 samples) were collected from Makkah Al-Mukarrmah (Western province) and from Riyadh (Central province). Chemical (moisture, protein, fat, ash carbohydrate, energy, sugars, and ethanol) and physical (total soluble solids, total solids, viscosity, density, refractive index (RI), and specific gravity) properties of the sobia samples were studied. The moisture, protein, ash carbohydrate, and energy contents were found to be in the range of 82.33% to 89.23%, 0.26% to 0.63%, 0.023% to 0.106%, 9.95% to 17.22%, and 41.25 kcal to 70.54 kcal, respectively, and no fat was detected. Glucose and fructose were present in all samples except sample 3. Samples 1 to 10 contained sucrose in the range of 53.93 to 130.89 g/l, while samples 11 to 14 had no sucrose. Only four samples (1, 2, 9, and 10) contained maltose. The ethanol content in fresh samples ranged from 0.00 to 1.00 g/l, and after a week of storage at refrigerator temperature (3-5 C) ethanol content increased in all samples with samples 5 and 6 having the highest ethanol content of 4.24 and 4.54 g/l, respectively. Total soluble solids (Brix ), total solids (%), viscosity (cP), density, RI, and specific gravity values of sobia were found to be in the range of 6.83 to 15.10, 7.60 to 15.40, 1.47 to 4.39, 1.033 to 1.063, 1.3429 to 1.3559, and 1.0303 to 1.0600, respectively.