Semi-Continuous Fermentation of Onion Vinegar and Its Functional Properties

For the fermentation of vinegar using onion, acetic acid bacteria and yeast strains with high fermentation ability were screened. Among them, Saccharomyces cerevisiae 1026 was selected as a starter for ethanol production and Acetobacter orientalis MAK88 was selected as a vinegar producer. When the two-stage fermentation of onion vinegar was performed at 28 °C, the titratable acidity reached 4.80% at 24 h of fermentation. When semi-continuous fermentation proceeded to charge-discharge consisting of three cycles, the acetic acid content reached 4.35% at 48 h of fermentation. At this stage, the fermentation efficiency, acetic acid productivity, and specific product formation rate were 76.71%, 17.73 g/(L·d), and 20.58 g/(g·h), respectively. The process in this study significantly reduced the fermentation time and simplified the vinegar production process. The content of total flavonoids and total polyphenols in onion vinegar were 104.36 and 455.41 μg/mL, respectively. The antioxidant activities of onion vinegar in terms of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic) acid (ABTS⁺) radical scavenging activity, and reducing power were 75.33%, 98.88%, and 1.28, respectively. The nitrite scavenging abilities of onion vinegar were 95.38 at pH 1.2. The onion vinegar produced in this study showed higher organoleptic acceptability than commercial onion vinegar.