Vinegar

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

Vinegar is one of the most ancient food spices known to mankind. The health effects of apple cider vinegar made from fresh apple cider vinegar or traditional Balsamico vinegar are well known. Vinegar is widely used both in cooking as a flavoring and in the cosmetics and sanitary industry. Quality vinegar enriches many dishes and expands the culinary taste. It is used mainly for flavoring salads, for preparing sauces and marinades, in making pickles.

In essence, vinegar is a sour-tasting liquid. It is obtained by oxidizing ethanol in wine, beer, fermented fruit juice or almost any other liquid containing alcohol. Vinegar is also produced by certain bacteria, which act directly in sugar-water solutions, without intermediate conversion to ethanol.

History of vinegar

People have been using it for hundreds of years vinegar as a medicine, a cosmetic and a good helper in the kitchen. It has been known to humans since 10,000 years ago. About 5 millennia BC. apple cider vinegar was widely used for medical and domestic purposes in Babylon. Our ancestors used fermented palm fruit, and soaked the meat in the resulting mixture to extend its storage time.

In ancient China, rice vinegar was prepared and used for medicinal and cosmetic purposes, while in Japan it was given miraculous power and believed to be able to preserve youth, health and strength of the body. In India, vinegar was widely used to treat wounds, burns, bleeding and even snake bites.

Hannibal discovered the most unexpected use of vinegar. He helped him make his way through the Alps to Rome during the Punic Wars (218-201 BC). The wars had to go through a very difficult and narrow path. By order of the Carthaginian general, the soldiers cut branches from the trees, set them on fire around the rocks, and then flooded the hot rocks with vinegar. In this way, the rocks became brittle enough for a road to be dug and for the soldiers to pass.

In the Middle Ages, doctors visited plague patients with a bottle of vinegar to disinfect their hands. In the early 20th century, the American physician F. K. Jarvis rediscovered the healing properties of apple vinegar, getting acquainted with folk medicine, which uses vinegar as a means of treating various diseases. In 1958, he even published the book "Let's Live 5 Times in 20 Years", in which he extensively described the unique healing properties of apple cider vinegar.

Composition of apple cider vinegar

93 different ingredients were found in the vinegar content. They are very useful for a person, stimulating the vital functions of the body. It contains acetic, propionic, lactic and citric acids, a number of enzymes and amino acids, valuable fiber such as potash, pectin. Vinegar contains many enzymes, 20 important minerals - potassium, sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, chlorine, sulfur, copper, iron, silicon, fluorine, many trace elements, folic acid, pro-vitamins beta carotene, rutin or vitamin P, as well as solid dose of vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, C, E. Pectin, which is contained in apples, has strong absorption and anti-inflammatory properties, which also apply to vinegar.

Benefits of vinegar

There are many health benefits that vinegar brings to people. Vinegar has the ability to form a protective layer on the lining of the stomach, which makes it extremely suitable for chronic and acute gastrointestinal diseases. In some clinics in the United States and Japan, apple cider vinegar is used to treat gastritis and other gastrointestinal problems. It is also used as a disinfectant in hospital premises.

Decoction in the morning from a glass of slightly warm water, 1-2 tbsp vinegar and honey is very useful for the body. Also works well a cup of slightly warm herbal tea, 1-2 tablespoons of vinegar and honey.

Vinegar is used for abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, upset.

According to experts, vinegar helps to lose weight, and based on its chemical formula, many drugs are prepared for weight loss. Vinegar improves metabolism and is an important factor in burning fat, providing all the vital substances in reduction diets. Weight loss by taking apple cider vinegar does not require starvation, deprivation, as a result there is no craving for food, in parallel with which the excess fat is melted, while limiting the possibility of disease.

Vinegar helps in the processes of purification of the body and improves the intestinal flora by destroying putrefactive bacteria. It reduces deposits on the walls of blood vessels and significantly reduces the risk of heart attack due to its rich content of pectin in combination with beta-carotene and reduces the level of bad cholesterol.

In the human body, vinegar keeps sugar levels within normal limits. A powerful remedy against anemia and increases the body's resistance. It has a beneficial effect on kidney function, helps in the treatment of influenza, sore throat, fever, headache. Vinegar massages relieve arthritis and rheumatic pain and act preventively against bone decalcification.

Vinegar is also widely used as a beautifier. After washing the hair, dousing it with vinegar water gives a beautiful shine. Vinegar is a good massage and is also used in cosmetics, such as face lotions. Cleansing the skin of the face with a swab soaked in vinegar is useful and kills bacteria and germs. Apple cider vinegar can help remove stains from your teeth.

Vinegar It is also used in the household - for cleaning windows, scale, faience. It helps to refresh, soften and preserve the color of fabrics, carpets, clothes.

Technological production of vinegar

In the modern production of vinegar There are two types of processing: traditional processes - such as the production of Balsamico vinegar, and open fermentation. In these processes, sugar and alcohol are converted into vinegar. Vinegar precipitate often forms on the surface. In the case of the traditional Aceto Balsamico tradizionale di Modena, this processing can take up to 12 years. In modern bioreaction processes, in which vinegar cultures are in equilibrium and ventilation is carried out by means of turbines or Venturi nozzles, 1 to 5 days are required for the conversion of alcoholic liquid into vinegar.

Recipes for homemade vinegar

Everyone can prepare their own at home vinegar. All you need are lots of sweet apples. They are washed, cleaned of stalks, rotten and wormy parts. The core and seeds are not peeled, separated. Grind finely or planed - the finer the better. Leave in a large container in the heat for about 40 days. The container should not be tightly closed, as it can be covered with gauze or cheesecloth - there should be access to air. The apples are stirred every day.

The resulting mixture is filtered through cheesecloth, and the squeezed vinegar is allowed to stand and settle for another 30-40 days. If you want to get clear vinegar after settling, you can use a thin hose to extract only the clear part and pour into bottles. Vinegar with sediment is most useful. The process is almost always accompanied by the formation of a vinegar sponge as a result of the fermentation process. The longer the vinegar matures, the more acidic it becomes.

There is a second option for the preparation of vinegar with honey and clean water. It is prepared as described above, with the difference that water sweetened with honey is added. The recipe is suitable for colder days or when more sour apples are available. The standard recipe for vinegar is with sugar, because the sweetness of sugar helps fermentation (bacteria are attracted to jam). Those who want to limit sugar consumption can use honey, but it is best to make vinegar from sweet apples.