The dangers of homemade fruit wine

As people's living standards improve, some people prefer to DIY some food in their lives. For example, many people prefer to make their own fruit wine, thinking that making fruit wine is more hygienic and healthier. However, if the homemade fruit wine is not good, it may cause certain harm to your health. After all, there are no conditions for making fruit wine at home, which can easily lead to the growth of bacteria, which is not conducive to your health.

The dangers of homemade fruit wine

Fruit wine is generally divided into fermented and non-fermented types. Non-fermented fruit wine is made by putting fruit into white wine, and wolfberry wine is a typical example. Through brewing, nutrients in fruits such as anthocyanins and carotene that can resist oxidation and prevent cardiovascular diseases will dissolve in alcohol. Take grapes for example. The nutrients in their skin and seeds are usually not absorbed by the human body, but through brewing, the anthocyanins inside will also dissolve in alcohol and be absorbed. In addition, if you soak wolfberries in water and drink them, you cannot fully absorb the carotene in them, but if you soak them in wine, the carotene can be completely dissolved in the alcohol.

Fermented fruit wine is made by mixing fruit and sugar in a certain proportion, sealing it, and fermenting it with wild yeast, which converts part of the sugar into alcohol and the nutrients in the fruit are also dissolved in the alcohol. Gao Jian emphasized that when fruit wine is produced in factories, the production process is strict and the bacterial flora is pure; but if it is homemade at home, since microbial fermentation is difficult to control, there is a great risk of bacterial contamination. During the brewing process, we cannot detect with the naked eye when the fruit wine is slightly moldy; but when the smell or color changes, the microbial contamination is already very serious, so the safety risk is relatively high. Relevant studies have shown that some homemade fruit wines contain seriously excessive levels of E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus, and drinking this kind of fruit wine frequently can be harmful to your health.

Precautions for brewing fruit wine

, 1

When choosing fruits, choose high-quality fruits and avoid those that are cracked, rotten or moldy. Moldy fruits contain molds, and when used for fermentation and winemaking, they will cause mycotoxins in the fruit wine. Mycotoxins such as aflatoxin are carcinogenic. In addition, the fermentation of these moldy fruits will produce more methanol, which is also a substance harmful to the human body.

2. Many families have the habit of using detergents such as dishwashing liquid or fruit and vegetable cleaning agents to wash fruits. The fruits used for winemaking also need to be washed because they are covered with impurities such as mud and dust. However, it should be noted that detergents should not be used for washing, otherwise the detergents will remove and kill the natural yeast on the surface of the peel, which is not conducive to fermentation during the winemaking process. Some families are accustomed to washing fruits and vegetables with salt water, but this is not recommended for fruits used for making wine. Can be washed with boiled water.

3. Many people’s knowledge of brewing homemade fruit wine comes from wine. They are often too smart and directly use the wine brewing knowledge to make other fruit wines. In fact, when brewing other fruit wines, you cannot completely copy the wine brewing technology.

Grapes do not need to be peeled for brewing, but fruits such as lychees whose peels are inedible must be peeled before brewing. Otherwise, the brewed fruit wine will contain too high levels of toxic and harmful substances such as methanol.

4. We know that grapes are not pitted for making wine, but some fruits must be pitted before brewing. Otherwise, the wine will not only have a bitter taste, but the pits will also produce toxic and harmful substances after fermentation. The seeds of loquats must be removed for making wine, but the seeds of lychees can be removed or not. As for whether to remove the core of the fruit or not, you can look up information or consult experts and authorities, but you must not blindly imitate the techniques of wine.