CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Productions of fruits are abundant in any places which are useful in our economic uses or in an agricultural ways. Mango (magnifera indica), banana Musa balbisiana papaya (Carica papaya) are much abundant in economy. Mostly in Cantilan particularly at the “tabuan” is the state produces the highest quantity of bananas ( Musa balbisiana ), mango ( Magnifera indeca ) and papaya ( Caripa papaya ) . Due to a high rate of productivity of bananas in Cantilan they are easily available and available at low prices in the market. As bananas have a short shelf-life there is a rapid rate of deterioration of this fruit (Akubor et al.,2003). Banana (Musa sp.) is a large perennial herb with leaf sheaths that form trunk-like pseudostem. It is rich in vitamin B6, which helps fight infection and is essential for the synthesis of heme—the iron containing part of hemoglobin. Banana is also rich in potassium and is a great source of fiber. A good quality alcoholic base for producing vinegar containing 5-6% acetic acid was obtained. Simmonds (1966) reported that vinegar has been prepared by fermenting a mash of banana pulp and peel. Vinegar production from banana may enhance minimize cost of production and eco-friendly. Vinegar was known worldwide as a seasoning or food preserving agent. Vinegar is defined as “ a liquid fit for human consumption, produced from a suitable raw material of agricultural origin, containing starch, sugars, or starch and sugars by the process of double fermentation, alcoholic and acetous, and contains a specified amount of acetic acid” (Joint FAO/ WHO Food Standards Programme, 1987). Vinegar, a traditional acidic condiment, is widely produced from rice, malt, apples, wine and various other agricultural materials (Ciani, 1998; Horiuchi et. al., 1999). Vinegar production ranges from traditional methods employing wood casks and surface culture to submerged fermentation in acetators (Morales et al 2001).Vinegar fermentation is essentially a two stage process, being the first one the anaerobic conversion of fermentable sugars to ethanol by yeasts, usually Saccharomyces species, and the second the aerobic oxidation of ethanol to acetic acid by bacteria, usually Acetobacter species (Adams, 1998; Horiuchi et. al., 2000). Acetic acid yield from fermented sugar is approximately 40%, with the remaining sugar metabolites either lost to volatilization or converted into other compounds. Acid yield improvements can be achieved using high rates aeration during continuous production (Ghommidh et al 1986). According to FDA (Food and Drug Administration, USA), vinegar as a sour solution, contains not less than 4 grams of acetic acid in 100 cubic centimeters at 20°C that is produced through alcoholic and successively acetic fermentation of sugary and starchy substrates. Earlier processes used for making vinegar were the Orleans process (which is also known as the slow process), the quick process (which is also called the generator process), and the submerged culture process.