Influence of brewing process on the physiochemical index and higher alcohol content of rice wine

Higher alcohols are by-products of yeast metabolism during Chinese rice wine fermentation,as well as one of the main flavor substances in rice wine.However,the superfluous content of higher alcohols would lead to headache after drinking.Analysis of the physiochemical index during fermentation and the gas chromatographic analysis shows that total sugar consumption and alcohol production are similar in kinds of fermentation process,while the amino state nitrogen and biomass in samples by fermentation and saccharification simultaneously were higher than those by first saccharification followed by fermentation process.At the end of the fermentation,the sample which was fermented by the first saccharification and fermentation process,the content of the higher alcohol were 329.26 mg/L and 399.45 mg/L,respectively in final products produced by fermentation and saccharification simultaneously and first saccharification followed by fermentation.Therefore,process of first saccharification followed by fermentation is beneficial for lowering higher alcohol content.