Ginger-flavoured ready-to-drink cocoa beverage formulated with high and low- fat content powder: consumer preference, properties and stability

Cocoa beverage is commonly made from cacao powder combined with other ingredient forming a suspension system. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the fat content of cocoa powder (high and low) and the concentration of ginger powder (0-8%) on the properties and the stability of ready-to-drink cocoa beverage applying Completely Randomized Factorial Designs (CRFD). Moreover, the consumer perspective about the quality attributes of cocoa drink was also surveyed to give insights on the important parameters in the cocoa drink. The results showed that viscosity and sedimentation were the two most important parameters determining the acceptability of cocoa beverage. The stability of the ginger-flavoured cocoa beverage was significantly influenced by the fat content of the raw material. The most preferred cocoa beverage was the sample formulated with low-fat cocoa powder and 8% ginger powder. The sample had a lightness level of 29.21, the antioxidant activity of 70.5%, total phenolic content of 9.53 mg GAE/mL cocoa beverage, total flavonoid content of 4.68 mg QE/mL cocoa beverage, pH of 7.68, and viscosity of 18.53 cP.