Biochemical Indices and Consumption Pattern of Traditional Alcoholic Beverages by Tribal Communities of North-East India: A Review

Bhaskarjyoti Bhattacharyaand Dibakar Chandra Deka^*

Department of Chemistry, Gauhati University, Guwahati, Assam, India.

Corresponding Author E-mail: dcdeka@rediffmail.com

The North-Eastern part of India consists of seven states namely Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. This region is popularly referred to as seven sisters, and is inhabited by different tribal communities, each of which has unique cultural and linguistic identity. All the communities are known for their traditional homemade alcoholic beverages prepared from rice. These rice-based alcoholic beverages are parts of their food and socio-cultural life as well as used to earn a livelihood by some families. In this article, we have made an effort to review the biochemical indices of the beverages such as physical state, color, taste, pH, total solid content, opacity, sugar content, total acidity, volatile acidity, carbohydrate content, protein content, amino acid content, ethanol content, non-reducing sugar content, etc. along with the consumption pattern within the communities.

Biochemical indices; North-East India; Rice beer; Traditional alcoholic beverages

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