Study of effect of functional ingredients on sensory attributes of ready-to-use (RTU) and ready-to-reconstitute (RTR) health beverages for diabetic population

The current investigation was undertaken to develop Ready to Use (RTU) and Ready to Reconstitute (RTR) health beverage supplemented with functional ingredients. It was developed using double toned milk and replacing part of double toned milk with whey at 20, 30 & 40 %, the addition of Stevia:sugar blend (25:75, 50:50 & 100:00), the addition of almond oil or walnut oil at 2, 3 & 4 %  and tea decoction at 10, 15 & 20 % later subjected to sensory evaluation. Finally, based on sensory scores, replacement of double toned milk with 30 % whey, addition 100:0 Stevia:sugar blend, 2 %  almond oil or walnut oil and 15 % tea decoction was optimised. The optimised health beverage was concentrated to 31 % total solids and spray dried (inlet 180±10 and outlet 80±10 °C temperatures) to obtain ready to reconstitute health beverage powder which was packed in plastic pouches and stored at ambient temperature for further studies. The effect of reconstitution on the sensory characteristics was determined for different ratios. Among all ratios, 1:8 reconstituted health beverage was awarded the highest sensory score, which was comparable to control.