Production Process and Physicochemical Characterization of the Guatemalan Artisanal Fermented Beverages Boj and Suchiles

Figures & data

Figure 1. Sampling locations (1) Boj and (2) Suchiles.

Figure 2. Plastic bottle crates packed in Styrofoam coolers for shipping.

Figure 3. Boj production process in Cobán, Guatemala.

Figure 4. Suchiles production process in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

Table 1. Comparison of the characteristics of Boj and different sugarcane-based fermented juices.

Fermentation Characteristics		Boj-2019	Boj-1988 ^[^23^]	Sugarcane wine-like^[^47^]^a,^b	Sugarcane wine-like^[^47^]^a,^b	Sugarcane fermented^[^48^]^c
Duration, Temperature	d, °C	8 d, ND	ND	6 d, 30 °C	6 d, 30 °C	7 d, ND
Microorganisms involve		yeast, LAB, AAB	yeast, AAB, others?	S. cerevisiae	S. cerevisiae var. ellipsoideus	S. cereviseae
Total soluble solids, substrate	g/100 g	13.5 ± 1.3	ND	20.0	20.0	20 ± 0.0
Total soluble solids, end product	g/100 g	3.1 ± 0.3	3.3 ± 0.2	18.0	3.0	4.8
Reducing sugars end product	g/100 g	0.86	0.86 ± 0.2	ND	ND	ND
Total sugars end product	g/100 g	0.94	1.46 ± 0.3	ND	ND	ND
Alcohol	mL/100 mL	6.9 ± 0.9	6.6 ± 1.1	1.6	10.0	4.5 ± 0.4
Degree of attenuation	%	77.1 ± 2.6	ND	10.0	85.0	76.0
pH	Units	3.3 ± 0.1	3.3 ± 0.1	ND	3.2	4.0 ± 0.0

^a Self-made calculation for TSS end product using data from Rivera-Espinoza et al. [47]

^b Adjustments in this study: TSS-substrate from 19.7 to 20 g/100 g; pH-substrate 5.1 to 3.5–4.0.

^c Self-made calculations for TSS end product, Alcohol and pH using data from Resende Oliveira et al. [48]

Abbreviations: LAB, lactic acid bacteria; AAB, acetic acid bacteria; ND, no data.

Table 2. Comparison of the characteristics of Suchiles and different pineapple-based fermented juices.

Fermentation characteristics		Suchiles-2019	Pineapple wine^[^49^]a	Fermented pineapple juice^[^50^]b	Fermented pineapple juice^[^50^]b	Tepache^[^50^]c
Duration, Temperature	d, °C	5 d, ND	5 d, 26 °C	10 d, 25 °C	10 d, 25 °C	2.5 d, ND
Microorganisms involve		yeast, LAB	bakery yeast	S. cerevisiae	S. cerevisiae, H., Sl	yeast, LAB, AAB
Total soluble solids, substrate	g/100 g	16.5 ± 1.5	ND	22.0	22.0	ND
Total soluble solids, end product	g/100 g	15.4 ± 1.2	ND	8.4	6.6	11.0
Sugars	g/L	155.90	ND
Alcohol	mL/100 mL	0.79 ± 0.4	1.6	12.3	13.0	0.24
Degree of attenuation	%	6.6 ± 2.7	10.0	61.8^*3	70.0^*3	ND
pH	Units	3.0 ± 0.1	ND	ND	ND	3.1

^aBefore fermentation, brown sugar was also added to the juice.

^bBefore fermentation, sucrose was also added to the juice

^cSelf-made calculations using data from Chanprasartsuk et al. [50]

Abbreviations: LAB, lactic acid bacteria; AAB, acetic acid bacteria; ND, no data; H, Hanseniaspora; Sl, Sacharomycodes ludwigii.

Table 3. Characteristics of different sugarcane and pineapple juices.

Sample	Total soluble solids, substrate g/100g		pH units
Sugarcane juice [Kanai]	17.35	ND	4.21	±3.07
Sugarcane varieties^[^35^]a	18.76	±3.07	5.41	±0.15
Sugarcane juice^[^48^]	20.00	±0.00	5.46	±0.05
Sugarcane juice^[^52^]	19.54	±2.21	5.73	±0.00
average	18.91		5.20
Pineapple juice [bio Voelker]	13.30	ND	3.74	ND
Pineapple juice^[^53^]	14.0	ND	3.70	ND
Pineapple juice^[^54^]b	12.00	±0.51	3.63	±0.38
Pineapple juice^[^50^]	18.10	±0.10	3.70	±0.00
average	14.35		3.69

^a Self-made calculations using data from Martini et al. [35]

^b Self-made calculations using data from Cárnara et al. [54]

Figure 5. Organic acid concentration in Boj and Suchiles collected from artisan producers in the northern and central regions of Guatemala in 2019.

Table 4. Amino acid composition of sugarcane juice, Boj, pineapple juice, and Suchiles.

Amino acids, mg/ 100 mL^a	Sugarcane juice	Boj	Reduction %	Pineapple juice	Suchiles	Reduction %
Aspartic acid	4.50	0.35	92	6.10	0.17	97
Glutamic acid	1.90	0.53	72	3.30	0.13	96
Asparagine	16.80	0.10	99	29.50	0.03	100
Serine	1.40	0.17	88	<0.50	0.10	NC
Glutamine	<0.50	0.24	NC	<0.50	<0.50	NC
Histidine	0.40	0.05	88	15.90	<0.50	100
Glycin	0.30	0.29	3	1.20	0.07	94
Threonine	0.50	0.14	72	1.50	0.03	98
Alanine	1.50	0.61	59	3.50	0.60	83
Arginine	0.70	0.49	30	2.00	0.07	97
G-Amino butanoic Acid	0.90	0.11	88	1.80	<0.50	NC
Tyrosine	0.60	0.09	85	4.60	<0.50	NC
Valine	1.00	0.13	87	1.30	0.03	98
Methionine	0.20	0.06	70	2.80	<0.50	NC
Trypthophan	0.50	0.03	94	0.40	<0.50	NC
Isoleucine	0.50	0.07	86	0.90	0.03	97
Phenylalanine	0.60	0.12	80	1.10	<0.50	NC
Leucine	0.90	0.18	80	1.80	<0.50	NC
Lysine	0.60	0.26	57	2.00	0.10	95
		Relative Average reduction	74%			96

^aThe detection limit for all amino acids is 0.5 mg/100 mL.

Abbreviations: NC, not calculable.

Figure 6. Concentration of lactic and acetic acid in Boj and Suchiles collected from artisan producers in the northern and central regions of Guatemala in 2019.

Figure 7. Sugar composition of Boj and Suchiles collected from artisanal producers in the northern and central regions of Guatemala in 2019. Boj reducing sugars 4.0 + 4.6 = 8.6 g/L; Suchiles reducing sugars 47.8 + 37.4 = 85.2.

Table 5. Comparison of the vitamin content in a liter of Boj, Suchiles, and Pilsner beer, along with compliance of Recommended Daily Intake (RDI).

Sample	Vitamin B2 riboflavin	Vitamin B3 niacin	Vitamin B5 pantothenic acid	Vitamin B7 biotin	Vitamin B9 folic acid
	mg	mg	mg	ug	ug
Boj-2019	0.12 ± 0.01	1.37 ± 0.03	1.26 ± 0.34	23.25 ± 1.12	55.63 ± 13.63
Suchiles-2019	ND	1.17 ± 0.19	0.40 ± 0.11	3.81 ± 1.20	54.33 ± 20.25
Pilsner Beer^[^51^]	0.34	7.73	1.49	12	86
RDI^[^56^]	1.40	16.00	6.00	60	400
Boj-2019, %	8	9	21	39	14
Suchiles-2019, %	ND	7	7	6	14
Pilsner Beer, %	24	48	25	20	22

Abbreviation: ND, not detectable.

Figure S1. Sugarcane juice extraction during the artisanal ­production of Boj in Cobán, Guatemala.

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Data availability statement

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.