‘Lambanog’ not that good as disinfectant, experts say

LUCENA CITY—Amid a continuing spike in demand for alcohol-based sanitizers, distillers of the locally popular coconut wine “lambanog” have stepped up production in the hope of marketing it as a virus disinfectant, just like gin makers have done in the United States and Europe.

But much as Filipino scientists would want to help the industry in the Southern Tagalog region, where lambanog is widely produced, they insist that using the traditional spirit is practically useless against the novel coronavirus or any other virus for that matter.

Aside from hand-washing, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the use of alcohol-based sanitizers with at least 60 percent ethanol or 70 percent isopropanol for hand hygiene in response to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Low concentration

“But commercially available lambanog is just 40- to 45-percent alcohol, specifically ethanol. That’s very low in terms of (concentration),” said Marian de Leon, a microbiologist and food science expert from the University of the Philippines in Los Baños.

On the other hand, rubbing alcohol normally contains 70-percent ethanol, “so [the] lambanog can never be classified as (a) disinfectant,” said Shirley Agrupis, head of the National Bioenergy Research and Innovation Center at the Mariano Marcos State University in Batac City, Ilocos Norte.

Besides being ineffective in killing viruses, De Leon said encouraging people to use lambanog as a sanitizer might also make them complacent and misinformed about what to do and not to do in dealing with the novel coronavirus.

When dozens of people fell to methanol poisoning last December, people probably realized the toxicity of unaged lambanog.

“Lambanog is an alternative disinfectant to prevent the spread of the coronavirus,” Quezon provincial health officer Grace Santiago said in a recent meeting presided over by Gov. Danilo Suarez.

Many Tagalog folk commonly use lambanog in traditional medicine, particularly unaged lambanog.

“It’s hot but it soothes … tired muscles,” said Lucas Cabriga, who works in a lambanog distillery in Tayabas City.

But Santiago was referring to unaged lambanog, locally called “bating,” which was believed to have been the cause of the mass poisoning last December.

Bating is a waste product of distillation with as much as 70-percent methanol. That methanol is reduced to about 40 percent through the aging process.

But that is methanol, De Leon said, pointing back to ethanol as the proper alcohol for disinfection even as she warned that and improper handling of methanol, commonly used as solvent, antifreeze for manufacturing pesticides and additives in vehicle fuel, may pose risks to the respiratory system.

Gin distillers

Local distillers may also have been misinformed by foreign news reports that gin distillers have been producing alcohol after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. But while the process may have similarities to lambanog making, it is still different in many levels.

De Leon also explained the importance of water (30 percent) in rubbing alcohol, which acts as a “catalyst” to break down the coronavirus’ protein and lipid membrane.

She stressed that the single most effective, if not cheapest, way to stop the spread of germs and viruses is still proper hand-washing.