Effect of Storage Time on Spiced Non-Alcoholic Beverage Made from Tiger-Nut Blends (Kunun Aya)

Kunun-aya is a traditional non-alcoholic beverage widely consumed in Northern Nigeria especially during the dry season. The beverage was prepared from tiger nut with the addition of spices such as cloves, date and ginger at different ratio of blends. The samples were stored at 4°C for 5 days and the effects of spices on their proximate, microbial and sensory properties were evaluated. Fresh tiger nuts and spices were purchased from Kure Ultra-modern market in Minna, Niger State. The tiger nut seeds were sorted and foreign materials, bad/cracked nuts, which may affect the taste and keeping quality of the drink were removed, washed and rinsed with portable water then soaked overnight to soften the fibre and to remove off-flavour. One kilogram of the fresh tiger nuts was blended several times into slurry with water. The slurry was pressed using muslin cloth to recover the extract. A 9-point hedonic scale was used to assess the sensory attributes of the spiced drink based on mouth feel, texture, taste, aroma, appearance and general acceptability. Five samples of the spiced drink were analyzed for total energy, crude protein, fat, carbohydrate, ash, crude-fibre and moisture contents. Results of the proximate analyses revealed a range of 87.4-90.0% for moisture which was high. The crude protein ranged from 3.3-3.6 with t h e samples containing tiger nut and date b e i n g significantly different from the others. The fat content ranged from 2.5-4.8, while the energy and carbohydrate contents ranged between 56.6-71.7 and 1.74-6.1 respectively. The bacterial count of the Kunun-aya samples ranged from 1.2 - 9.2×104 CFU/ml and fungal count ranged from 1.2-9.0×104 CFU/ml on days 1, 3 and 5, respectively. Bacterial and fungal counts of the samples generally increased with the storage period and the samples with 20% inclusion of clove and 10% inclusion of ginger, clove and date respectively were the most acceptable among the treated samples. No significant differences existed among the treated samples in terms of mouth feel, aroma, taste, consistency and appearance. The study revealed a nutritious and acceptable spiced drink from tiger- nut which can serve as a substitute to alcoholic and carbonated beverages.