FORMULATION AND QUALITY EVALUATION OF READY TO DRINK COFFEE BREW FROM DATE SEED POWDER

Date seeds are typically dumped as rubbish since they serve no purpose. The aim of this research was to prepare Ready to drink Date seed coffee and to evaluate the effect of different functional properties during the storage of coffee drink at 4 Degree Celcius. The proximate composition, physicochemical properties (bulk density, tapped density, hygroscopicity, cohesiveness and flowability), total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, DPPH radical scavenging activity of the date seed powder were determined. The date seed powder was used at different percentage (5, 10 and 15%) to prepare the coffee brew by cold brewing method and certain amount of milk powder & powdered sugar was added to the brew to prepare final product. TSS and pH of the ready to drink decreased with time. TPC at day 0 ranged from 701.69-236.33 mg/100ml whereas TPC was found from 678.99203.79 mg/100ml at day 8 in different coffee brews. The IC50 of ready to drink coffee is seen to increase with time (23.67- 42.12µg/ml) as the % Antioxidant activity (78% to 61%) decreases with storage time. The IC50 of ready to drink coffee is less than 50 µg/ml, which indicates that the ready to drink coffee has a very strong antioxidant activity. The color Parameter, (L*) increased with time whereas redness (a*) and yellowness (b*) was decreased. Microbial studies revealed that the total viable count for ready to drink ranged from 8.84 x 10^1 (Day 0) to 5.07 x 10^6 CFU/ml on the 8th day of storage. The sensory analysis indicated that the ready to drink coffee incorporated with 15% coffee brew was more acceptable than the others. Therefore, it can be considered as coffee alternative having similar sensory parameters like coffee