Bignay rice wine blend: a new rice wine variant with enhanced antioxidant activity

PhilRice Tapuy (rice wine) is already an exceptional drink but adding it with bignay (Antidesma bunius) wine which contains phytochemical and flavonoids, including catechins, proyanidins, vitamins B1 and B2 can add more value to this beverage. Blending commercial bignay wine and PhilRice Tapuy or its distilled form to create a new rice wine variant with enhanced nutritional value was therefore explored. In the preliminary screening five commercial bignay wines (Brands A, B, C, D and E) and PhilRice Tapuy (fermented and distilled) were blended using a 50:50 ratio. The best brand was determined based on physicochemical and sensory properties. PhilRice Tapuy blended with Brand E exhibited the most intense color (12.62), aroma (7.76), alcoholic taste (8.73), and astringency (7.02); highest over-all acceptability (8.53), and least sour taste (5.34) and off-flavor (1.86). Likewise, distilled PhilRice Tapuy mixed with Brand E had the most intense color (13.27) and aroma (9.58), highest over-all acceptability (8.43) and least off flavor (1.74) compared to mixtures using other brands. Brand E was therefore used in optimizing the best bignay and rice wine ratio. Brand E and PhilRice Tapuy were further blended at the following ratios: 50:50, 40:60, 30:70, 20:80, and 10:90. Bignay wine was also blended with distilled PhilRice Tapuy at ratios 70:30, 80:20, 90:10. At a 50:50 bignay:tapuy ratio, highest color intensity (10.55), most sweet ratio (7.88) and smooth mouthfeel (8.18), most acceptable (8.98), and least off odor (1.80) were observed. An 80:20 ratio for bignay and distilled rice wine exhibited the most intense aroma (11.64), most smooth mouthfeel (6.91), most acceptable (8.43), and least off-odor (0.60). As bignay wine blended was increased, there was an increasing trend in total anthocyanin content (0.99 to 7.90 and 14.34 to 19.08 mg/L) and color (0.25 to 1.39 and 2.02 to 2.64) of wine.