Antioxidant Activity, Economic and Sensory Evaluation of Spiced Aerated Tea (Clone TRFK 6/8)

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the effect of spices on anti-oxidant capacities, consumer acceptability and pricing of clone TRFK 6/8 aerated curt tea curl (CTC) processed tea as sold in the Kenyan market. Six spices and a spice mix including ginger, lemongrass, nutmeg, cinnamon, rosemary, and tea masala were used to develop aerated spice tea. The spice mix-tea masala was comprised of ginger, cinnamon, cardamoms, cloves, black pepper and nutmeg. The threshold levels of spice-tea blends for commercial purposes were demonstrated using three highly rated spices: cinnamon, lemongrass and ginger. Economic costing was done using the cinnamon spiced tea. The results showed that aerated tea had the highest antioxidant activity of 92.66% compared to that of the highest spice cinnamon 89.89%. Antioxidant activity of spiced tea significantly (P≤0.05) decreased with the quantity of added spice. Spices significantly (P≤0.05) increased consumer preference of the aerated tea, and the preferred spice-mix ratios also differed. Some spices were preferred more than others as shown by the three best rated spice-tea mixes, including cinnamon at 10%, lemongrass at 5% and ginger at 15%, which had mean scores of 6.74, 6.35 and 6.58 respectively on a hedonic scale. Keywords. spices, aerated tea, sensory evaluation, biochemical assay, economic assay