Volume 20, Issue 53, January - June, 2023

Corrosivity extents of Ogogoro (locally brewed gin) to aluminum and steel metals and human health implications

Guma TN, Kalu NM, Shettima KD, Agbo SI

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Nigerian Defence Academy, P.M.B. 2109, Kaduna, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Ogogoro, a popular, palm wine-distilled, high-alcohol indigenous beverage in many West African nations, may be sufficiently corrosive to cause rapid and expensive deterioration of materials and bodily organs. This article intends to raise safety awareness about the corrosivity of pure ogogoro and its popular palm wine-admixed variants to commonly used metals in contact with them and the implications for human health. Weight losses and corrosion rates of mild steel, stainless steel and aluminum metal samples in ogogoro variants that contained 0–25% palm wine was determined in laboratory tests. The variants' pH, chloride content and electrical conductivity values were measured. The collected and analyzed data indicate that pure ogogoro is tolerably corrosive to mild steel but negligibly corrosive to aluminum and stainless steel and its corrosivity diminishes with increasing palm wine content. Aluminum, sulfur trioxide and chlorine are the only significant components of pure ogogoro, which could be inimical to human health or corrosive to metals. An analysis of the components, however, shows that they pose minimal corrosivity or health risks.

Keywords: Palm wine, Distillation, Ogogoro, Corrosivity degree, Metals, Human consumption, Risks, Safety-awareness

Indian Journal of Engineering, 2023, 20(53), e11ije1011

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v20i53/e11ije1011

Published: 31 March 2023