Development and sensory evaluation of an improved beverage from Nigeria’s tamarind (tamarindus indica l.) fruit

Abstract

Tamarind (Tamarindus indica L.), an indigenous underutilised tree fruit, has many valuable properties and almost every part of the tree is utilised by rural and urban dwellers. Nigerian tamarind fruits are grossly underutilised, with the rural dwellers utilising some of the fruits in beverage production using ancient processing methods. The ancient processes of manufacture are cumbersome, slow, non-hygienic and highly subjective, often resulting in non-uniform and low quality products which are less preferred to commercial imported ones. Furthermore, traditional tamarind beverage is not as popular among the populace as other traditional beverages. There is therefore a need to develop simple and affordable process of producing standard tamarind beverage which would be widely accepted by Nigerians. A simple, improved processing method was developed based on the traditional method of manufacturing tamarind beverage using the modified one-factor-at-a-time method to determine the experimental levels of the various ingredients used in the formulation of the beverage. A pilot study was carried out to determine the acceptable range of pulp to water blend. The beverages were evaluated by the paired preference, hedonic rating and multiple comparison tests using 50 semi-trained assessors within the age range of 18 and 45 years. The results of the paired preference tests were expressed as levels of significance while the mean scores of hedonic rating tests were subjected to analysis of variance. Tukey's test was used to separate the means. Samples of tamarind beverages produced by the traditional and improved processing methods were analysed for colour, pH, total acidity, soluble solids, ascorbic acid, total solids, browning index and cloudiness using standard methods. The colour (A 325nm ), cloudiness (A 660nm ), browning index (A 420nm ) and ascorbic acid (mg/100ml) of the traditional and improved beverages were 0.91±0.25, 0.68±0.16, 1.42±0.04, 9.5±0.69 and 0.60±0.01, 0.13±0.01, 0.19±0.01 and 10.4±0.21, respectively. While the traditional processing method took 10 hours to produce about 10 litres of beverage, the improved processing method took 2 hours to produce 250 litres of beverage. The improved beverage was rated much higher in terms of colour, aroma, taste and overall acceptability than the traditional beverage and compared favourably well with a similar commercial beverage. A beverage with more acceptable qualities than the traditional beverage was thus produced from the improved processing method.

Dielectric Properties of Beverages (Tamarind and Green) Relevant to Microwave‐Assisted Pasteurization

“…pH was low (2.74 for the tamarind beverage and 3.35 for the green drinking), green drink had 7.13°Bx, whereas tamarind had a higher TSS value of 12.31°Bx. The physicochemical properties of the tamarind beverage are similar to the reported for a Nigerian tamarind beverage, with 10.8°Bx, pH of 3.4, and total acidity of 0.7% (Adeola & Aworh, 2010). The green drink had similar values to those reported for guava nectar, with pH of 3.81 and 0.14% of titratable acidity (Salazar-González et al, 2014).…”

Comparative evaluation of the nutritional and sensory quality of different brands of orange-juice in Nigerian market

“…The total (reducing and nonreducing) sugars to a large extent determine the sweetness of juices and beverages. It could be used for masking the astringency derived from organic acids (Anvoh et al, 2009;Adeola and Aworh, 2010). When compared with the recommended dietary allowances (RDA) of 130 g/day (El-Sheikha et al, 2010), for total sugars, the orange juice samples will contribute to the average 15.40%.…”

Promoting food security and enhancing Nigeria's small farmers' income through value-added processing of lesser-known and under-utilized indigenous fruits and vegetables

“…'Tsamia' drink is prepared in the same manner as 'tsimi' drink, but without the addition of ground ginger and pepper. An improved process for small-scale industrial production of tamarind beverage reduced processing time from 10 h for 10 l of beverage (traditional method) to 2 h for 250 l of beverage (Adeola & Aworh, 2010). The improved beverage was superior in color, aroma, taste and overall acceptability to the traditional beverage and compared favorably with a commercial ginger beverage.…”