Effects of Natural Sweeteners on the Nutrient Composition and Organoleptic Attributes of Tigernut-Coconut Drinks

The study determined the effects of natural sweeteners (date fruit and black plum) on nutrient compositions and organoleptic attributes of tigernut-coconut drinks. Two research questions and hypotheses guided the study. The population of the study was 60. Ingredients used for the drink preparation were gotten from Ogige market, Nsukka. Nine-point hedonic scale was used as an instrument for data collection. Data obtained were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for the research questions, while ANOVA was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Findings of the study indicated that the moisture content of the drink samples ranged from 88.68% to 90.60%, ash content ranged from 0.10% to 0.16%, crude fibre content was from 2.4% to 3.4%, fats and oil content was from 2.0% to 2.4%, protein content ranged from 0.10% to 4.2%. Carbohydrate content ranged from 0.10% to 3.58%. The organoleptic attributes of the drink samples showed that the sample containing date fruit as a sweetener had the highest rate of general acceptability. Among the recommendations made was that local food producers should utilize date fruit and black plum as natural sweeteners in the production of drinks. Also, the natural sweeteners (date fruit and black plum) can be processed, stored separately and used as homemade sweeteners for different cereals and drinks by homemakers