Evaluation of herbal blended roxburgh fig (Ficus auriculata Lour.) wine for quality and storage stability

Roxburgh fig (Ficus auriculata Lour.), an underutilised fruit species native to Asia, possesses high nutritional value and bioactive compounds, offering significant health benefits. Despite the recognised nutritional and medicinal value of F. auriculata, there is limited scientific evidence on its utilization for standardised wine production, particularly in combination with functional herbal extracts. Hence, the study aims to utilize Roxburgh fig to produce wine enriched with leaf extracts of gotu kola (Centella asiatica (L.) Urb.) and vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides (L.) Roberty) root extracts and to optimise fermentation parameters, as well as to develop pilot-scale production technology. The study was conducted using eight different concentrations of herbal blends (2, 4, 6 and 8 % of gotu kola and vetiver) along with a control (fruit pulp). During the standardisation of herbal blended wine, T2 and T6 (2 % gotu kola and vetiver extract, respectively) resulted in significantly high alcohol (9.08-9.12 %) and lower reducing sugar content (6.91-6.93 mg/mL). It was comparable with the control (9.28 % alcohol and 6.40 mg mL-1 reducing sugar). However, the highest overall acceptability score (4.1) was obtained in T2 (fruit pulp with 2 % gotu kola leaf extract). Saccharomyces cerevisiae (MTCC 178) culture at a 3 % concentration, with a pH level of 4.5 and a temperature of 30 °C, was found to be optimum for maximum alcohol production, resulting in higher sensory evaluation scores. This study demonstrates that roxburgh fig, combined with moderate concentrations of herbal extracts, can produce high-quality, sensory-appealing wine.