In the harvest season, besides good quality pomelos,
many unqualified pomelos exist for commercial purposes.
However, these products still have much potential to be
exploited to optimize profits for producers. Therefore, this
study was conducted with the aim of developing a alcohol
pomelo beverage (APB) process from pomelo to create added
value for this fruit. In this study, pomelo fruit, a tropical fruit
with high nutritional values, was used as the primary substrate
for a process of alcoholic fermentation using Saccharomyces
strains. The indicators included yeast with a density of 103,
105, and 107 CFU/mL, initial total soluble solid (TSS) was 19,
23, and 27, and the fermentation time was 0, 6, 8, 10, 12, and
14 days. The result shows that the optimal fermentation process
could be carried out at the initial TSS of 27%, yeast density
of 103 CFU/mL, and fermentation time of 12 days to attain the
final product with the alcohol content of 10.35% (v/v). In addition,
the final product was found to show the presence of
phytochemicals such as phenols, tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids,
coumarins, quinones, saponins, terpenoids, and steroids. The
total polyphenol content in beverage was 271.3 mg GAE/mL,
highly correlated to its antibacterial capacity. Besides, the antioxidant
capacity of APB was also recorded through the DPPH
free radical scavenging ability of 11,599 μg/mL and H2O2 of
14.33 μg/mL, respectively. Sensory evaluation results recorded
positive feedback on odor (4.2/5) and acceptability (4/5). In
summary, APB products have nutritional value and organoleptic
characteristics that are suitable for the consideration of
large-scale production expansion in the future.