Effects of adding different quantities of yeast and chokeberry juice on fermentation of mead

Honey is a product of high nutritive value, used as a raw material for obtaining mead. The quality of mead can be improved by adding fruit juices, including chokeberry juice. This paper aims to assess the effects that adding different quantities of chokeberry juice, with the variation of 3 amounts of inoculated yeast, has on the fermentation course, physicochemical, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of mead. The parameters analyzed are the dry matter content, pH value, and content of volatile acids, ethanol and methanol, total phenols and flavonoids, FRAP, DPPH and ABTS tests and antimicrobial properties. The results obtained in this paper show that adding chokeberry juice improves antioxidant properties of the final product and affects positively the course of mead fermentation, i.e. it has led to an increase of the maximum concentration of ethanol (Pm). In terms of the chemical composition of mead, there is no significant difference, except in the obtained ethanol content, which is the highest in samples with 10% of added chokeberry juice. Control sample showed the best antimicrobial activity, while sample with 5 % of added chokeberry juice showed the weakest effect. The strongest effect was seen in the sample with 20% of added chokeberry juice.