This study is carried out to investigate the physicochemical characteristics, microbial population, and sensory characteristics during fermentation of Korean traditional rice wine with addition of glutinous rice. The fed-batch fermentation of rice was performed by Nuruk and yeast for 10 days at 28°C in a water bath. The four fermentation batches included 0, 10, 15 and 20% of glutinous rice based on the total rice contents. The growth of total viable cells, lactic acid bacteria (LAB), and yeasts were similar among the four batches during the fermentation period. The population for total viable cells and LAB were increased for the first 3 days, and decreased slowly until 10 days. The number of yeast cells was rapidly decreased after day 6, when the alcohol content reached about 15% for all the fermentation batches. Physicochemical characteristics, such as pH, total acidity, and reducing sugars, were not different with the increase of additional glutinous rice contents. The ethanol production was higher in Korean traditional rice wine from non-glutinous rice (17.1%) than ones from glutinous rice (15.8～16.7%). For the sensory evaluations, Korean traditional rice wine with 15% glutinous rice was highly preferred due to the highest sweetness.

Keywords: fermentation, rice wine, glutinous rice, sensory evaluation, quality