Traditional Biotechnology-based
Alcoholic Beverages in the
Philippines
ERNELEA P. CAO, Ph.D.
Director, Natural Sciences Research Institute
University of the Philippines
Diliman, Quezon City
The history of fermentation technology in
the Philippines is said to be very old.
 Historical accounts showed that when the famous
explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his men
arrived in the Philippines in March 17, 1521,
the feast set before them by the natives
included earthen jugs filled with a native
alcoholic drink called ‘tuba’.
 Tuba or coconut toddy is mentioned by
chroniclers in the first half of the century along
with the “Indian nut”.
Microorganisms Behind Traditional
Fermented Foods
They are used in traditional Filipino foods like:
nata (cellulosic delicacy)
puto (rice cake)
kesong puti (white cheese)
burong mustasa (fermented mustard leaves)
burong mangga (fermented green mango)
burong talangka ( fermented crab)
longanisa (fermented native sausage)
Microorganisms also used in local
wines like:
 basi (sugarcane wine)
 laksoy (nipa palm wine)
 tuba (coconut toddy)
 lambanog (distilled coconut wine )
 tapuy (rice wine)
Philippine sites where local wines are produced:
Ilocos - Wine from
grapes
Kalinga and Ilocos Basi from sugarcane
Cordillera - Tapuy
from rice
Cebu - Wine from
grapes
Butuan City - Laksoy
from nipa palm
Cagayan Valley Layaw from corn
Laguna and Quezon – tuba
and lambanog from
coconut
Basi, the sugarcane wine found in
the Ilocos provinces
 needs a yeast called
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
during fermentation
 other yeasts contribute to
the distinct flavor, aroma
and stability of basi
Laksoy - local wine from Butuan City
 Nipa palms that grow in
abundance along river banks
and swamps are selected
depending upon the maturity of
its bough and fruit to obtain a
greater yield of the desired sap
grade.
 Mud is often applied to the
bough and fruit of the nipa palm
once every three days for a
succession of six weeks.
 The mud coating is later worked
off, before cutting the bough.
 Immediately after cutting, a
salhod (bamboo container) is
attached to whet the sap.
 The sap is thoroughly drained of the nipa palm by slicing 23 mm off the cut-bough in the next five days.
 The tree is then left untouched from 3 - 4 months to restore
its former vitality.
 The sap extracted from the nipa is soon stored in banga for
at least 2 days, allowing fermentation to take place.
 To produce a gallon of laksoy, 3 cans of tuba are poured
into the distilling apparatus called Laksuyan.
 One arrives at the desired consistency by regulating the
temperature used for the apparatus. To control the heat,
the kawa (kettle) is insulated with mud.
 For any 1/3 of laksoy produced, a sufficient amount of
water is poured into the kawa to maintain a certain
temperature. Firing is also kept to a minimum.
 The distilled laksoy finally drops into a bamboo funnel
before emptying into a gallon bottle.
Tuba (coconut wine or coconut toddy)
 is a sweet, fresh or mildly fermented sap
 has a stinging sweet and bittersweet taste
 popularly known locally as “Jungle wine”
 also called the “Lazy’s man crop”
To ferment:
- the sweetish liquid is stored for 1 - 3 days
in earthen jars or bottles in modern times.
- the rust tint of tuba is acquired through
the addition of powdered mangrove bark
called tangal.
Process of Making Tuba
 made through a process of extracting the
sap of an unopened coconut bud.
 tip of the bud is lopped and the pale juice
allowed to trickle into bamboo containers
In prime coconut provinces, such as Laguna
and Quezon, the sap is also distilled into
lambanog, a potent liquor.
 can also be made from the sap of buri and
nipa palms
The Mananggiti gathering the
sap from coconut.
The Mananggiti straining the tuba he
just gathered.
Tuba as stored in bottles or
plastic containers.
Tuba, with the rust tint of color.
Lambanog
Crystal-clear lambanog is distilled from tuba.
About 15-gallon tins of raw coconut juice
make a quarter of a gallon of lambanog,
making it more expensive than tuba.
Lambanog is a local moonshine, as it is
surreptitiously distilled in hidden stills, a
process to make it more of a prized
possession as a vintage wine.
Flavored lambanog displayed in wine shops
Rice wine, popularly known as tapuy, is an
indigenous alcoholic rice drink akin to the
populace of the Cordillera region and
adjacent provinces
It is an important beverage for traditional
occasions such as birthdays, weddings,
fiestas, cultural fairs, and in honoring dead
kinfolks.
Tapuy is considered as a safe and healthful
beverage. As such, it is becoming a demand
among health-conscious consumers and
rice-based cottage industry owners as well.
RICE BEER
Product Name
Takju
Tapuy
Brembali
Jaanr
Country
Korea
Philippines
Indonesia
India
Himalaya
Major
Ingredients
Microorganism
Rice, wheat
Lactic acid
bacteria
S. cerevisiae
Rice, glutinous
rice
Saccharomyces
Mucor
Rhizopus
Aspergillus
Leuconostoc
L. plantarum
Glutinous rice
Finger millet
Mucor indicus
Candida
Hansenula
Anomala
Mucor rouxianus
Appearance
& Usage
Turbid drink
Sour, sweet
liquid, paste
Dark brown
liquid
sour, alcoholic
Sweet-sour
alcoholic
paste, mix
with water
Polished Rice (4 parts)
Glutinous Rice
Wash and steep
Roast
Steam
Cook without cover
Mix with 1 part powdered nuruk
and 10 parts water in an
earthen jar
Cool on tray
Ferment for 2-3 days
Inoculate with powdered bubod
Sieve
Pre-ferment
Takju (Korea)
Tapuy (Philippines)
Flow Chart for the processing of takju and tapuy
In the Cordillera, rice wine is kept for short periods
(3-5 days).
Reason: producers do not have a standard
procedure of producing and packaging their
wine.
For this reason, the Philippine Rice Research
Institute (PhilRice) researchers studied the
standardization of the process to make the rice
wine a certified value-added product.
Fermentation starters used in different countries
Country
Name
Ingredients
Shape
Microorganism
China
Chu
Wheat, barley,
millet, rice (whole
grain, grits or flour)
Granular or cake
Rhizopus
Amylomyces
Korea
Nuruk
Wheat, rice, barley
(whole grain, grits
or flour)
Large cake
Aspergillus
Rhizopus
yeasts
Meju
Soybean (whole
seed)
Large ball
Aspergillus
Bacillus
Japan
Koji
Wheat, rice (whole
grain, grits or flour)
granular
Aspergillus
Indonesia
Ragi
Rice (flour)
Small cake
Amylomyces
Endomycopsis
Malaysia
Ragi
Rice (flour)
Small cake
Philippines
Bubod
Rice, glutinous rice
(flour)
Small cake
Mucor, Rhizopus
Saccharomyces
Thailand
Loopang
bran
powder
Amylomyces
Aspergillus
India
Marchaa
rice
Flat cake
Hansenula
anomala
Mucor fragilis
Rhizopus arrhizus
Rice Flour
Glutinous Rice
Moisten with water or sugarcane juice
to form a thick paste
Grind while wet
Inoculate with Ragi powder from a
former batch
Mix with water, unwad roots and
ginger
Flatten into cakes or mold into
hemispheres
Mold into flattened cakes or ball
Place on bamboo tray and cover with
muslin
Incubate at 25-30 oC for 2-5 days
Dry
Nuruk (Korea)
Sprinkle with powdered bubod
Inoculate 3 days
Dry
Bubod (Philippines)
With the help of the original makers of the rice
wine, this indigenous health beverage can now be
kept longer for at least 6 months. This technology
page presents how.
Preparation of bubod (bulk starter culture)

Grind ordinary rice. You may use a coffee grinder, a Wiley mill, or any
equivalent substitute equipment.

Mix old powdered bubod (3 g per 100 g rice) and ginger (0.5 g per 100 g
rice). You may use crushed dried onwad roots in water enough to make a
dough.

Mix thoroughly and then mold into palm size patties, 20 cm thick.

Place the patties on a tray lined with cheese cloth and allow to stand in an
open space for one day and then dry in an oven at 35oC for one to two
days.

Cool and place the bubod in a clean jar and store in the refrigerator or in a
dry place to avoid growth of molds.
Fermentation of rice wine (You will need: glutinous
rice, water, bubod, activated carbon or bentonite)
 Weigh 1 kg glutinous rice (e.g. malagkit sungsong) and wash
thoroughly with water three times.
 Drain and add 1.5 liters water.
 Cook in an automatic rice cooker or kettle until well done. Let it cool.
 Spread cooked rice on a tray and inoculate with powdered bubod (1
g per 100 g raw rice).
 Cover the tray with a piece of paper or cloth and incubate at room
temperature for two days.
 Transfer to a fermentation jar with a water seal and allow to ferment
for two weeks (or until bubbling stops).
Economic Analysis (Philippines)
 Rice wine production is a profitable venture.
 A return on investment (ROI) is estimated to
reach as high as 88%.
 With a monthly total production expense of
roughly Php 44,000.00 and an average wine
production estimated at 1,500 bottles (each
containing 350 ml wine) amounting to Php
82,500.00, a net income of Php 38,553.92 is
expected.
 Putting up a rice wine plant needs an estimated
fixed capital of Php 300,000.00.
 The purchase of a 70 m2 lot and construction of
a semi-concrete building with a 50 m2 floor area
accounts for 80% of this amount.
 Therefore, the estimated value can still go down
to as low as Php 60,000.00 if there is already a
facility that can be converted into a plant.
 With an ROI of 88%, the investment can be
recouped in 7-8 months.