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Alcoholic drinks from Mount Kenya region, Kenya

Muratina (Kikuyu sausage-tree beer)muratina

Muratina is a honey drink from the Mount Kenya region, fermented in a gourd with dried, pre-cured fruit of the sausage tree (Kigelia africana). In a study from Mbeere, honey and water fermented 3–5 days at 30 °C, and the product reached about 20 % alcohol.

Fully documentedAlcoholic drinks3 days – 5 daysFamily: African honey drinks (bessoudioury, iQhilika and others)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe water-to-honey ratio recorded for Mbeere muratina in a 2024 study; the abstract gives no amount of fruit.
Honey3 kg[njeru2024]
Water17 L[njeru2024]
Pre-cured Kigelia africana fruitPut dried into the gourd; the study does not give an amount[njeru2024]
Starterspontaneous, in a gourd with dried, pre-cured Kigelia fruit

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 days – 5 days

Start
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What changes: Sausage-tree fruit is cured and dried before it goes into the gourd

Step 1 of 4
Cure the Kigelia fruit
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Yeasts
Lactic acid bacteria
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
L. plantarum
Lactococcus

Output: cured, dried fruit.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Muratina is a honey drink from the Mount Kenya region, fermented in a gourd with dried, pre-cured fruit of the sausage tree (Kigelia africana). In a study from Mbeere, honey and water fermented 3–5 days at 30 °C, and the product reached about 20 % alcohol. Made in 4 steps over 3 days – 5 days. The longest step, add the cured fruit and ferment, takes 3–5 days (Njeru P.N. 2024) and runs at 30 °C (Njeru P.N. 2024). Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, Lactococcus and Pediococcus do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3–5 daysReported[njeru2024]Add the cured fruit and ferment
Temperature30 °CReported[njeru2024]Add the cured fruit and ferment
AciditypH 4.1Measured[njeru2024]Add the cured fruit and ferment

What makes this one different

Muratina ferments honey water spontaneously in a gourd, with dried, pre-cured Kigelia fruit in place of a cereal or back-slop starter. In the Tanzanian denge the Kigelia agents are reused, but the Mbeere study does not say so for muratina.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Denge (Pare, Tanzania)Sugarcane juice or cane sugar (1 kg in 4 L water) fermented 8–9 hours with Kigelia fruit or Aloe pluridens stem; Kigelia is called muratina in Meru.

Safety

The fresh fruit pulp of Kigelia is said to be toxic, especially when young, and is never eaten fresh; the fruit goes into the gourd pre-cured and dried. A 1997 study of the related Tanzanian denge says the types and levels of residual toxicants from the Kigelia agent need to be identified. The Mbeere muratina measured pH 4.06 and about 20 % alcohol.

Hazards the sources name: Kigelia fruit pulp, said to be inedible and toxic when fresh, especially young; the fruits are never eaten fresh; Residual toxicants from the Kigelia agent (studied for the related Tanzanian denge; identity and levels not known).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

A 2020 review says Kigelia fruits and bark are used in brewing to aid fermentation and flavour traditional beers. Muratina is also the Kikuyu and Meru name of the tree. The Mbeere study says the wine is still made by traditional technology and has never been scaled up.

  1. [njeru2024] Njeru P.N. 2024, Biochemical properties and molecular characterization of fermented alcoholic honey (Muratina) microbes from Mbeere-Kenya, Food Science & Nutrition Technology 9(1) (abstract)paper
  2. [laswai1997] Laswai H.S., Wendelin A.M., Kitabatake N., Mosha T.C.E. 1997, The under-exploited indigenous alcoholic beverages of Tanzania, production, consumption and quality of the undocumented "denge", African Study Monographs 18(1):29–44paper
  3. [oguntoyinbo2016] Oguntoyinbo F.A. et al. 2016, Produce from Africa's gardens, potential for leafy vegetable and fruit fermentations, Frontiers in Microbiology 7:981 (lists muratina, Kenya, sausage-tree fruit, alcoholic and lactic fermentation)paper
  4. [nabatanzi2020] Nabatanzi A., Nkadimeng S.M., Lall N., Kabasa J.D., McGaw L.J. 2020, Ethnobotany, phytochemistry and pharmacological activity of Kigelia africana (Lam.) Benth. (Bignoniaceae), Plants 9(6):753paper