Assessment of Physicochemical and Sensory Characteristics of Stevia Sweetened, Low-Caloric Orange Drink
Assessment of Physicochemical and Sensory Characteristics of Stevia Sweetened, Low-Caloric Orange Drink
Muhammad Usman1, Majid S. Hashmi1, Ayaz Ahmad1*, Fawad Ahmad2 and Zahid Alam1
ABSTRACT
Excessive consumption of food products laden with sugar pose threat to health of consumers generally and diabetes patients particularly. Moreover, some low-calorie products did not meet sensory preferences of consumers. Therefore, this research was conducted to evaluate the quality and acceptability of a low-caloric orange drink by incorporating various concentrations of stevia powder and storing it within a temperature range of 20±0.4°C. The investigated treatments included: Orange Drink (OD)0 (Juice: 15%, Sugar: 13%, Stevia: 0%, Sodium Benzoate: 0.1%, Water: 72%), OD1 (Juice: 15%, Sugar: 0%, Stevia: 0.065%, Sodium Benzoate: 0.1%, Water: 84.83%), OD2 (Juice: 15%, Sugar: 0%, Stevia: 0.070%, Sodium Benzoate: 0.1%, Water: 84.83%), and OD3 (Juice: 15%, Sugar: 0%, Stevia: 0.075%, Sodium Benzoate: 0.1%, Water: 84.82%). These treatments were assessed over a three-month storage period at 15-day intervals, with a focus on various physicochemical parameters, including total soluble solids, pH, titratable acidity, and vitamin C content. Furthermore, organoleptic attributes such as color, taste, aroma, and overall acceptability were subject to evaluation. The findings indicated a decrease in pH values and ascorbic acid content over time, while total soluble solids, as well as titratable acidity, increased. Notably, the OD2 formulation exhibited significantly (P≤0.05) higher pH and ascorbic acid content while having lower TSS and TA content compared to the sugar-based sample and other stevia-containing samples. During the organoleptic assessment, OD2 consistently received higher scores from the panel of judges throughout the storage period. Statistical analysis confirmed that this particular formulation had a substantial impact on both the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of the drink. For commercialization of the product large scale evaluation should be done to validate these findings in addition to microbial analysis.
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