Healthy, ripened fruits of Guava pink variety Punjab were used for guava-wine production. After selection, juice extraction and pasteurization, the pre-fermentation of guava “must” was carried out by a commercial pectinase using Response Surface Methodology where a 47.2% decrease in OD550 nm and 95% juice yield were observed in the statistical combination of 45°C, 6h and 0.50 mg/100ml. The effect of different fermentation parameters viz. sugar, temperature, inoculum size and DAHP supplementation revealed 25°B, 25°C, 9% and 300 mg/100ml as optimum respectively, with an ethanol production of 13.8% (v/v) in 6 days. The volatile characterization of guava-wine identified 68 volatile compounds, including 33 esters, 8 alcohols, 5 terpenes, 5 phenols (aromatic hydrocarbons), 2 ketones, 1 alkene derivative and 14 miscellaneous compounds. The sensory analysis of matured wine categorized it as a ‘Superior” grade wine with a mean sensory score of 68.4±2.56.
Keywords: Fermentation parameters, guava, optimization, S. cerevisiae, wine.