Effect of Storage Time on Spiced Tiger-Nut Extract (Kunun Aya)

Abstract

Background: : Tiger-nut beverage is popularly known in the northern part of Nigeria as kunun aya, it is widely consumed for its thirst-quenching and nutritive properties. Objective: This study determined the effect of storage time on spiced tiger-nut extract. Methods: 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. The tiger nut extract was mixed with ginger, clove, date and sugar at a varied ratio of 8:2 and 7:1:1:1, i.e. tiger nut to ginger, to clove, to date. The extract was stirred thoroughly to have the spices and sugar properly dissolved. Results: Results of the proximate analyses revealed a range of 87.4-90.0% for moisture. The crude protein ranged from 3.3-3.6% with the samples containing tiger nut and date being significantly different from the others. The fat content ranged from 2.5-4.8% while the energy and carbohydrate contents ranged between 56.6-71.7Kcal 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. Conclusion: The study revealed that samples with inclusion of 20% clove and 10% ginger, clove and date respectively were the most acceptable among the treated samples.