The Unfiltered, All Natural Probiotic Coconut Sap (Sukang Tuba) Vinegar

Fresh tuba sold in public market. Fermentation is taking place with yeasts breaking down sugar with carbon dioxides as waste products as manifested by bubbles on the surface of the liquid.

The production of a vinegar is not the primary purpose of gathering sap from the cut blossom of a coconut tree, but for having tuba, a type of local Filipino drink. A freshly harvested sap has natural sugar and taste sweet. It can be drunk as it is or as preferred by some people with added powdered or crushed bark of a type of mangrove tree. However, this will change the color of the liquid from milky white to reddish orange or pale red. Although the drink is sweet and nutritious some people shun it because of the resulting bad smell in the mouth when it is drunk. Only an small amount of tuba is wasted even if it not consumed or sold out because an stored tuba can become a vinegar after some time. The vinegar is just a by product of tuba, so to speak.

From the moment after the sap is gathered from the tree, one can notice the natural fermentation process of the liquid taking shape. The natural yeast start to break down the sugar from the sap. The resulting waste products of that process are carbon dioxide and ethanol alcohol. The carbon dioxide is manifested on the surface of liquid by the bubbles. The fresher the sap the more bubbles are created. The chemical process that takes place results in gases escaping from the liquid so that a bottle or any container cannot be closed airtight because the lid will burst open  because of the pressure of the gases.

In two to three days the action of the yeasts converts the sugar into ethanol alcohol, and this time fewer bubbles can be seen in the liquid, and the sap is less sweet and its taste similar to a red wine. The tuba at this stage is called bahal in the Visayan dialect which is more preferable to drinkers than the fresh and sweet one. Exposed to oxygen in the air, the sap undergoes another stage of fermentation. This time the ethanol is oxidized by acetic acid bacteria and results to the production of acetic acid that will make the sap taste sour and less alcoholic thus a vinegar is made, and the aerobic fermentation process is done in 3 to 4 weeks. If the stored sap vinegar is left untouched for several months, murky gelatinous substances develop or settle at the bottom of a bottle or container. They are called mother vinegar. although unappealing to look at, they are harmless and contains beneficial probiotic bacteria. A vinegar with the "mother" indicates that it is unpasteurized, unfiltered and all natural.

A fully fermented coconut sap vinegar with the "mother" in the bottom of the bottle.

In the Philippines sukang tuba has been used by Filipinos for generation to prepare or cook their foods. In Northern Mindanao region the coconut sap vinegar or sukang tuba is used to prepare or cook such foods as kinilaw, paksiw, adobo among other dishes. Coconut sap vinegar combined with salt, siling labuyo, onion or other spices is used as a dip for broiled pork, fish and others to enhance their flavor and to boost one's appetite. Mixed with oil, spices and vegetables it is also used as salad dressing or condiment.

The long fermenting process results to the production of vinegar that has probiotics properties. The probiotics in sukang tuba along with the mother vinegar is excellent for our gut's health. not all vinegar are probiotics but sukang tuba or maybe apple cider vinegar are exceptions. Probiotics are bacteria that destroys harmful ones in our gut's microbiome thereby improving our body's efficiency in digesting foods and absorbing nutrients and most importantly in boosting our immune system. Probiotics are living microorganism and exposing them to extreme high temperature will kill them. When coconut sap vinegar is used in cooking its probiotics benefits are lost. 

Apple Cider Vinegar with the "Mother"

Coconut sap vinegar contains polyphenols and is rich in amino acids which is the building block of life and protein. And it is claimed that it has even a higher level of amino acid, vitamins and minerals than the popular apple cider vinegar (ACV). It also tastes better and less acidic and costs much cheaper than the ACV so that for Filipinos sukang tuba might even be a better alternative to apple cider vinegar. 

 

Sukang tuba also aids in weight loss, fights type 2 diabetes because of its less sugar content, and helps reduce blood pressure. It has also antimicrobial and antifungal properties which can help the body fight against common illnesses.

In the Philippines coconut sap vinegar is mostly homemade. The research of its beneficial uses and large scale commercial production has not yet reached its full potential.