‘Mother’ is a dark, cloudy substance found at the bottom of the raw, unfiltered version of the apple cider vinegar.
Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) is an age-old remedy known to heal a number of health issues and provide amazing health benefits. It’s been used actively by people all over the world to treat common health problems, such as indigestion, diabetes, obesity, heartburn, dandruff, and acne.
How is Apple Cider Vinegar made?
ACV is made from a two-step fermentation process of apple juice. Yeast is first added to the juice extracted from freshly crushed apples to start the fermentation process. The yeast breaks down the sugar in the apple juice and turns it into alcohol. In the second step, a bacteria called acetobacter (a genus of acetic acid bacteria) develops into this sugar-turned-alcohol and turns it into vinegar.
What is the ‘Mother’ in Apple Cider Vinegar?
The byproduct of the fermentation process is what we call as the ‘Mother of Vinegar’. It is a strand-like substance that makes the ACV look dark and cloudy. But, is the healthiest part in the vinegar. The ‘mother’ consists of dozens of healthy bacteria, also known as probiotics that aids in keeping the digestive system healthy. It also consists of enzymes that help in the chemical-breakdown of the food, so that our body may use the essential nutrients that we consume.
Did You Know?
From over 2000 years vinegar is being used to preserve and add flavor to foods, clean surfaces, heal wounds, fight infections, and manage diabetes.
Types of Apple Cider Vinegar – Which one should you buy?
Apple cider vinegar is available in the market many forms. The common ones are: unfiltered/ unpasteurized ACV, pasteurized ACV and cold-pressed ACV.
Most of the store-brought ACVs are filtered (pasteurized), wherein, ‘the mother’ or any other sediments are removed to make it look clear and non-cloudy. Vinegar producers often do this to make the ACV more appealing to the consumers – as the unfiltered ACV leaves the impression that the vinegar has been spoilt, which is nothing but a misconception.
Cold-pressed ACV is made from juice of apples extracted by cold-pressing the apples. Cold-pressing helps in retaining essential enzymes and nutrients present in the apples, which are otherwise lost in the heating process during pasteurization.
What particular type you should buy depends on your purpose of use.
- Use the pasteurized ACV as a household cleaner or rinse off your hair. It’s likely to last longer and is also cheaper as compared to the raw version.
- Use the unfiltered (preferably organic) ACV for direct consumption and application on the skin. Always dilute the ACV with some warm or cold water, as its high-acidic content is likely to irritate and cause damage to your skin, throat, and stomach.
Final Take
If you’re willing to get the most out of your apple cider vinegar, try buying the unfiltered, organic ACV with ‘the mother’. The mother signals that the vinegar retains its ‘natural goodness’ as much as possible.
