This study aimed to improve red
koji-shochu manufacturing by the additions of protease and cell wall degrading enzymes. We added 44 enzyme products in red
koji-shochu mash: 1 α-amylase, 1 glucoamylase, 12 protease, and 30 cell wall degrading enzyme products. The solubility of
koji granules and the alcohol fermentation was improved by adding almost all enzyme products. Newlase F3G from protease products and sumizyme TG from cell wall degrading enzymes were selected by the degree of alcohol fermentation and softness of
koji granule in
moromi-mash as the evaluation indexes. These two screening enzymes along with sumizyme AS of α-amylase product and sumizyme
Shochu of glucoamylase product were used for small-scale
shochu making. The alcohol yield by distillation was improved by the addition of all enzyme products. Especially, alcohol yield of
moromi-mash with added sumizyme TG was highest at 96.6%.
Shochu made by using sumizyme TG was evaluated as most similar with control red
koji-shochu. These results showed that the addition of enzymes into
moromi-mash of red
koji-shochu could improve alcohol fermentation and distillation efficiency without any negative effect on the flavor of red
koji-shochu.
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