Chemical Composition, Antioxidant and Sensory Properties of Beverages Produced from Extracts of Tiger Nut, Papaya, Pear and Soursop Leaves

Abstract

Ten beverage samples were formulated by blending 200 g of tigernut rhizomes in 150 ml of infused pear (Pyrus communis), papaya and  soursop leaves to obtain 250 ml per sample. The beverages were tagged- TN (tiger nut extract), PE (pear leaf extract), PA (papaya leaf  extract), SO (soursop leaf extract), TNPE (tigernut and pear leaf extract), TNPA (tigernut and papaya leaf extract) TNSO (tiger nut and  soursop leaf extract), TNPESO (tiger nut and extracts of pear-soursop leaves), TNPASO (tiger nut and extracts of papaya-soursop leaves),  and TNPAPE (tiger nut and extracts of papaya-pear leaves). The samples were analysed for free radical scavenging ability, phenolic  compounds, amylose, and amylopectin ratio. Overall, the beverage blends show good radical scavenging ability. The chromatogram shows the presence of vanillic acid (6.40-9.76 mg/g), gallic acid (0.16-7.98 mg/g), caffeic acid (3.70-7.03 mg/g), ferulic acid (16.26-23.17  mg/g), syringic acid (1.44-2.29 mg/g), p-coumaric acid (4.25-6.48 mg/g), c-coumaric acid (1.56-1.88 mg/g), rutin (0.01-0.03 mg/g),  quercitrin (2.14-3.39 mg/g), quercetin (35.51-43.54 mg/g), kaempferol (17.78-22.46 mg/g), luteolin (49.56-58.67 mg/g), apigenin (16.73-  24.23 mg/g), and nangenin (9.87-15.94 mg/g). The sample containing tiger nut alone had the lowest (0.64) ratio of amylose to  amylopectin while the one containing tiger nut and exracts of pear-soursop leaves had the highest (1.72), making it suitable to be  recommended for diabetic patient. The sensory evaluation shows that the beverage sample containing tiger nut, papaya, and pear  ranked highest (7.45) in overall acceptability. The beverages in addition to the nutritional qualities possess bioactive components that   have some health benefits.