ABSTRACT

Chemical and sensory evaluation of beverages made from tiger nut (Cyperus esculenta) was evaluated. Experimental design was used for this study. Milk and yoghurt were processed from tiger nut with commercial beverages such as vita milk and samin yoghurt serving as the control, respectively. The proximate composition, mineral and vitamin content of the beverages were evaluated using standard laboratory methodologies. The sensory scores were evaluated using a 9 point Hedonic scale with the aid of a 20 man panelists. The data generated were statistically analysed by One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using Statistical Product of Service Solution (Version 22.0) to compare between the mean values while treatment means were separated using Duncan multiple range test at 95% confidence level (p<0.05). The proximate composition of the beverages showed that MK1 (Vita milk) had the highest moisture content (86.47 %) whereas the highest value of crude fibre (0.64 %) was obtained in MK2 (Tiger nut milk). Furthermore, YG1 (Samin yoghurt) had the highest ash (1.37 %) and carbohydrate content (21.58 %) while the highest crude protein (8.96 %), fat (12.50 %) and energy value (172.56 Kcal/100g) was obtained in YG2 (Tiger nut yoghurt). The mineral content of the beverages showed that MK2 had the highest value of magnesium (141.86 mg/100g), potassium (270.15 mg/100g), phosphorus (134.54 mg/100g) and iron (2.62 mg/100g) while YG1 had the highest calcium (178.43 mg/100g) and zinc (3.67 mg/100g). The beverage sample YG2 had the highest value of vitamin B₁ (0.96 mg/100g), B₂ (0.72 mg/100g), B₃ (0.43 mg/100g) and C (33.51 mg/100g). The mean scores of sensory evaluation showed that the beverages processed in this study were more preferred by the panelists compared to the control samples with MK2 having the highest mean score for appearance (6.95), taste (7.15), flavour (7.05), mouth-feel (6.90) and general acceptability (7.50). This study successfully demonstrated that nutritious and acceptable beverages can be processed from tiger nuts.