Enzymes drink is somewhat an unique “drink” made primarily in the South East Asia region, mostly in Malaysia and Singapore. And usually by the Chinese. The concept is just like making wine (from fruits) just that instead of the yeast converting the sugars, it is the bacteria (good bacteria that is in the fruits themselves) that is doing that conversion. So instead of making wine, you get enzymes drinks which contains lactic (among others) acid. That is why a supposedly good enzymes drink should be slightly sour. Making enzymes drinks is fun, fulfilling and if I am not wrong, it is very “probiotic” as well. But honestly, unless there are more research on this, I doubt the heralded health effects of enzymes drinks.
Anyway, the main idea behind making enzymes drinks is to allow the bacteria in the fruits to ferment the sugars. There are always other competing micro-organisms like yeast, mold and even other (bad?) bacteria. So what you should do is to create an environment where other competing micro-organisms (especially the mold and yeast) cannot thrive. Fruits contain naturally occurring mold and yeast (and bacteria), there is nothing you can do about that. What you can do is to create the necessary environment for the bacteria to outgrow the other micro-organisms. Take a page from those French bakers who harvest yeast from raisins, you can use the same idea to “harvest” bacteria from fruits.
1. Sugar. Adding sugar is important. Do not skip this step. A lot of people who make enzymes drinks are health conscious and they tend to think that sugar (table sugar aka sucrose) is bad for them, without actually knowing why. So they just skip adding sugar. Honestly, table sugar isn’t that bad. In fact, many of the fruits and honey which people tend to substitute for sugar have sucrose in them as well. However, it is the lack of other nutrients in table sugar that is the problem. And in the case of making enzymes drinks, sugar acts as a preservative and a food source for the bacteria. Bacteria eats the sugar and converts them to acid while producing enzymes. And yes, sugar is a preservative – many of the dried foods we consume contains sugar to preserve them. If you don’t add the sugar (or not enough of the sugar), yeast or mold might take over. It is like rotten fruit. The trick here is to add the correct amount of sugar to help encourage (good) bacteria growth while discouraging yeast and mold growth. For high water content fruits (like water melon), add more sugar. For low water content fruits (like bananas), add less sugar.
2. Types of sugar. I usually use light or dark brown sugar to make my enzymes drinks. Table sugar is okay but dark brown sugar adds some flavour (molasses) to the drink. And yes, I am pretty sure that the bacteria needs nutrients to grow as well. Dark sugar contains nutrients which the bacteria might need in order to be healthy. I would discourage the use of artificial sugar as the bacteria might not be able to ferment them properly. As for honey, I am not too sure. From what I read, some honeys contains anti-bacteria properties which might inhibit the grow of bacteria. You want to ensure that the bacteria from the fruits grows hence the need for sugar.
3. Water. I am just surprised that there are recipes out there which requires the addition of water to the fruits. Adding water to the fruits will dilute the sugar and help encourage yeast growth. Hence instead of enzymes drinks, you might get wine (which is nice by the way but not exactly what we are looking for). This is exactly how wine is made – from fruit juices. If you add water to the fruits, you are actually making an environment where the yeast can thrive and when they eat the sugar, you will get alcohol. Yes, I admit that it is impossible NOT to create some alcohol in the enzymes drink making process. But you can limit it by not adding water. Remember, if sugar is diluted enough, it will encourage yeast growth. This is not to say that alcohol is (that) bad. Hahaha, yes, I love alcohol.
4. Time. I think this is a very difficult to judge. Depending on the fruits used and the amount of sugar, it might take from 1 week to a month. Most people would like to keep it longer to ensure that all the sugars are fermented but I would not recommend that. Sugar is hygroscopic so it absorbs water from the fruits. And (after some time) once the sugar is diluted enough, it will create an environment where yeast can grow and you will again face the problem of too much alcohol in your enzymes drinks. Of course if you did it right in the beginning, the acidic environment created by the bacteria will inhibit the yeast growth and once there are no sugars left, the yeast will have no food to consume to create alcohol.
5. What types of fruits. I have not tried all of them but I think most fruits should not be a problem. As long as there is enough moisture and sugar, the bacteria from the fruits will consume them, no problem – you will get a product which resembles enzymes drinks. And different fruits produces different flavours. I would highly recommend you making enzymes drinks out of the fruits which you like. Or heck, try them all out! I have never tasted an enzymes drinks which I don’t like but that is just me.
6. Temperature. I am not too sure what kind of bacteria we are looking for in enzymes drinks so I can’t exactly tell you what temperatures are needed. But you might not want to ferment the enzymes drinks at too high a temperature because yeasts are usually very active at high temperatures. And at high temperatures they usually give off-flavours which is definitely not desirable. I don’t have the exact figures but keeping the fermentation vessel at slightly lower than room temperatures (in Singapore and Malaysia) should be optimal. I keep them in a cupboard away from the any sunlight.
7. Skin on or skin off? I would highly recommend cutting the skin off. Why? Well, unlike bacteria, yeasts are usually found on the skins of fruits. You do not want the yeast, you want the bacteria in the fruits. So cutting off the skin of the fruits will reduce the amount of yeast you have in your enzymes drinks (and hence less alcohol). Not to mention, cutting off the skin will ensure a bigger surface area for the bacteria from the fruits to come in contact with the sugar. Sometimes we add the skins because they impart a certain desirable flavour to the enzymes drinks, so in that case, wash the skin thoroughly first.
8. Seeds. Get rid of them. Several of my readers had said that seeds contain some sort of inhibitors which will affect your enzyme drinks. Anyway, seeds usually don’t taste that good, so what is the point of having them in your drink? They are not going to add anything nice to the flavour or add sugars as food to your bacteria.
9. Cleanliness. Being clean is everything. That includes your fermentation vessel, your spoon, cups, knife, chopping board and so on. Everything should be clean to prevent other micro-organisms from infecting your fruit/sugar mixture. I usually sanitize my utensils with some diluted bleach (or sanitizers) and then rinse off. Note that a dry surface does not mean that it is a clean surface. All sorts of micro-organisms can still be on that surface. This is one of the major reasons why people tend to have failures when making the enzymes drinks – their utensils and fermentation vessel is not clean enough. Thus by creating an environment there are few other competing micro-organisms, you give your fruit bacteria a good head start.
10. Glass. Yes, since you are doing a relatively long term fermentation, I think a glass vessel for fermentation is highly recommended. However I think it should be alright to use a food grade plastic container as well. Contrary to popular, not all plastics are bad. Look for PET plastic containers (they have the triangle symbol with the number “1″) – they should be good enough. At least plastic is lightweight and does not break easily.
11. Airlock? I once said that it is highly recommended to use an airlock because you don’t need to open and “burp” the fermentation vessel (The fermentation process produces carbon dioxide). This way you won’t get any foreign contaminants entering your container. However, there is one major problem – lack of oxygen if you do that. The airlock does not allow air to enter the container while allowing carbon dioxide to escape. The lack of oxygen will enable yeast (which can ferment at lower oxygen levels) to start fermenting and you will get more alcohol. And you might face the problem of your bacteria dying out (or sleeping and refusing to ferment) because there is no oxygen in the container. It might not be that good an idea. My mistake. Airlock it for the first few days. Lactobacillus does not need oxygen to reproduce and thus if there is not much oxygen in the container, you are actually giving the lactobacillus a good start. Other micro-organisms growth will be retarded. However, after a few days, you should open up the fermentation vessel to let some air in. No matter what, the bacteria needs oxygen in order to convert the sugars to lactic acid.
12. Mold. A lot of people recommend shaking the fermentation vessel. I think that makes sense. Mold can only grow on solid (or semi-solid) surfaces and that includes the surface of the fruits. (A wet surface and a watery surface are two different things) Although not all molds are poisonous, why take the risk. Shaking the vessel will ensure that the surface of the fruit remains coated with liquid which will inhibit mold growth for a short period of time. It will also re-distribute the fruits so that they will not dry out. You can also follow what yogurt makers do by adding some acid first – that is right acid prevents mold and fungi (and even yeast) from growing. So add a piece of fruit with a large acid content really helps ensure that mold and yeast won’t get a head start. Remember, the bacteria once started will try to create an acidic environment so that they (and they alone) can thrive and other competing organisms will be inhibited.
13. Optimal Time To Drink? Most of us tend to eat fruits after meals. However I would suggest readers to drink the enzymes drinks before meals. Take a hint from our Arab fruits, they consume fruits either before meals or during their meal. I think that since the enzymes are supposed to be the health property of enzymes drinks, you should consume it just before meals so that the enzymes can go to work helping with your digestion.
14. Do it small batches. Enzymes drinks do not keep. What is the point of making 3 gallon batches of enzymes drinks only to throw away half of it. Use a small container and use less fruits. You should drink about like one shot glass of enzymes drinks per day anyway. Unless you have the need (like a big family to feed), why waste money and effort?
15. Less airspace. Or headspace or whatever you call it. Use a suitability sized fermentation vessel to make your enzymes drinks. The less empty space would mean less chances of contamination. Don’t use a 10litre bottle to make a 2 litre enzymes drinks. Remember, what you need to do is to ensure that there are fewer competing micro-organisms so that your enzymes drinks fermentation will succeed.
16. Don’t air dry your fruits! Some recipes call for air drying the cut fruits so that there will not be any additional moisture in the fruits. However, there is something fundamentally wrong with that idea - air (aka the environment) contains a lot of wild yeast, bacteria, mold spores, fungi and all those nasty stuff. Are you sure air drying the fruits is that good an idea? You are in fact introducing foreign micro-organisms into your fruits. They will be attracted by the exposed fruits. And one of the ways wine makers in the past make wine is to “catch” yeast from the wild using this method. Your aim is to make use of the fruits own bacteria to ferment the sugars, not to introduce god knows what yeast, bacteria or mold into the fruits! So once you cut your fruits, it is time to ferment, no matter how wet the fruits are.
For those who are interested, please take a look at some of my enzymes drinks making adventures – Mango + Jackfruit + Apple Enzymes Drink / Pineapples + Honey Dew Enzymes Drink / Lemon + Pear Enzymes Drink / Dragonfruit + Lemon + Apples Enzymes Drink
