The Potential of Raffia (Raphia hookeri) gum in stabilisation of ice cream, yoghurt and pineapple juice

Abstract

The study assessed the potential of raffia (Raphia hookeri) gum in ice cream, yoghurt, and pineapple juice stabilisation. The objective was to determine the effectiveness of extracted raffia gum in the stabilisation of some food products. Ice cream, yoghurt, and pineapple juice were produced and incorporated with the extracted gum. The physicochemical, microbiological and sensory properties of the treated three products were determined. The pineapple juice samples had pH range 3.55-4.25 and viscosity between 15.20 Pa.s and 25.32 Pa.s with total titratable acidity range of 0.44% -0.85 %. There was no syneresis in the pineapple juice and ice cream while the syneresis values in yoghurt ranged from 2.3 ml -8.3 ml in the first week and 2.5 ml -10.8 ml in the third week. All the three products had no coliform growth. The yeast/mold counts for the samples ranged from 2.76 × 10² CFU/ml-3.44 × 10² CFU/ml for pineapple juice, 2.43 × 10² CFU/ml-3.55 × 10² CFU/ml for yoghurt, and 2.14 × 10² CFU/ml-3.66 × 10² CFU/ml for ice cream. The study showed that raffia palm gum at 1.5 g/100 ml stabilised the sensory properties of the three products. This lends raffia palm gum as potential alternative to the food gum (acacia gum) in ice cream, yoghurt, and pineapple juice stabilisation.