Development, quality assessment and antioxidant properties of cocoa based beverage produced from vegetable milk

Developing countries are faced with the challenge of diet related diseases like diabetes mellitus, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and inadequate protein in their diet. The common beverage produced from animal milk was reported to have bad cholesterol which may lead to hypertension, hence the need to develop beverage from plant sources. Cocoa based beverage was developed from of Tigernut tubers (Cyperus esculentus), Soybean (Glycine max) and Alkalized Cocoa Powder sweetened with either natural or synthetic sweeteners (Date syrup, Sucrose and Aspartame). A commercially available sample was used as control. Physicochemical, amino, fatty, antioxidant properties and sensory evaluation were carried out using standard methods. The protein content of the formulated beverage ranged from 3.12g/100g in TCSW to 9.58g/100g in TCS and were significantly higher (p<0.05) than TSBD (2.12g/100g) which was the control sample ;while Energy values (Kcal) ranged from 84.529kcal/100g in SCS to 468.51kcal/100g in TCS. The total phenolic content ranged from 136.11mg/g in SCS to 161.37mg/g in TCDS but was slightly lower than TSBD (165.85mg/g). In conclusion, the study established that the formulated beverage exhibited high amino acid profile and low fatty acid composition; hence the beverage drink may be suitable as functional foods for both old and young.