The sensory properties of special brandy with ganoderma lucidum

Abstract

Ganoderma lucidum has been used for more than 2000 years in traditional Chinese medicine. It is not edible mushroom since its fruiting bodies are tough and corky, but the extract of this mushroom can be used as additives for food or drinks. The reason for great attention of this mushroom is due to the wide variety of its bioactive compounds, such as triterpenes, polysaccharides (β-glucans), proteins, steroids etc. In the production of beverages, very important fact is that the Ganoderma is a rich source of bitter triterpenoids and bioactive polysaccharides. Brandy is an alcoholic beverage with a very long tradition in Serbia and it is produced by distillation of fermented fruits. Brandy can be mixed with different medicinal herbs, and according to Serbian tradition, these products are treated as forms of folk medicine. In this study, we investigated the sensory properties of special type of grape brandy and wine distillate, which were obtained by maceration of various amounts (0.5-2.5%) of fruit bodies of Ganoderma lucidum. The origin of strain of G. lucidum was from wild Bojčinska forest near Belgrade. Sensory characteristics of the brandies were determined using modified Bux-baum model of positive ranking (20 score max.). The samples of brandies were subject for sensory evaluation by a panel comprising 5 qualified testers. The results of the evaluation showed that total sensory quality of samples were between 16.7 and 17.85, which we consider as very good score. The best rated was the sample of grape brandy with 2.5% G. lucidum. The obtained results suggest that sensory properties of these special brandies were completely acceptable for the tasters. Supplementation of this mushroom with different kind of brandy can improve the sensory characteristics and health properties of spirit drinks.