PRODUCTION AND SENSORY EVALUATION OF HOMEMADE DATE SYRUP AS ALTERNATIVE SWEETENER IN POST COVID19: A PRELIMINARY STUDY

Abstract

Date fruits (phoenix dactylifera) belongs to the palm tree family Arecaceae. The date fruits and seeds arerich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber and contain both essential and non-essential amino acids.Date is naturally sweet and can be processed into syrup and used as healthy alternative to table sugar.Eating healthy for sustaining a healthy life in post COVID19 is the wish of every human being but with thechanging lifestyle and palates for sweeten food, healthy living may be compromised. COVID-19 pandemichad enormous impact on the eating habit of the general population with visible effects in post COVID19leading to major behavioral changes in eating habits especially high calorie diets which may promotes extraweight gain and exacerbates their risks of developing health complications, severe disease cases, andmortality. This paper examined the production and sensory evaluation of homemade date syrup asalternative sweetener in post COVID19. Specifically, the study produced syrup from date fruits, conductedsensory evaluation and acceptability of tea using the syrup as sweetener and studied the keeping quality ofthe homemade syrup at room temperature. Findings revealed that, the syrup was rated high in all the sensoryattributed measured and had no significance difference at P < 0.05 with the control. People of all agesshould be encourage to include date syrup in their diet especially in beverages and breakfast cereals as thiswill help increase essential nutrients intake that are present in date fruits and also reduce their risks ofdeveloping health complications such as dental carries, obesity, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance and fattyliver disease.