PHYSICOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND ACCEPTABILITY OF SOME ARTISANAL MINT LIQUEURS

Abstract

The medicinal herb Mentha piperita L. has been used for hundreds of years for its remarkable medicinal properties. Due to its composition rich in essential oil, terpenes, flavonoids etc., the peppermint is commonly used in various fields for obtaining cosmetics, medicines, and also in the food industry. The aim of the present study consisted in developing accessible recipes for preparation of artisanal dessert mint liqueurs by different extraction variants and determining their physicochemical and sensory analyses. Four types of mint liqueurs were prepared by maceration of peppermint leaves in alcohol, varying the extraction parameters: time, temperature or by changing the order of ingredients addition. For the obtained artisanal liqueurs samples the following physicochemical characteristics were determined: dry extract, alcoholic strength, soluble solids, total acidity, fixed acidity, volatile acidity, density, conductivity and refractive index. The samples prepared were organoleptically analyzed by a multi-sensory approach (appearance and clarity, color, odor and aroma, taste) using the scoring method and the results revealed that the artisanal liqueurs obtained are well accepted by the consumers.

Keywords

• extraction
• maceration
• Mentha piperita
• physicochemical characterization
• sensory analysis
• valorization