Microbiological and Storage Properties of Spiced Tiger Nut (Cyperus esculentus vassativa) Drink

The microbiological and storage properties of spiced Tiger nutdrinkproduced from different ratios of fresh and roasted Tiger nut and date palm as sugar replacer were evaluated. Tiger nut drinks were prepared using three locally available spices namely, ginger (Zingiberofficinale Rosc), galic (Allium sativa) and ehuru (Monodoramyristica) spices, pasteurized at 72°C for 15mins and stored at room temperature (28°C) and refrigerated temperature (-4°C) for a period of three weeks. The drinks were evaluated for microbiological and storage properties such as pH, total titratable acidity (TTA), oBrix and refractive index. Total bacterial count after three weeks was insignificant at refrigeration (4±2°C) temperature in fresh sample A, B, C and D. Thus, with the right proportion, spices have shown capacity to lower bacterial growth, hence prolonging the shelf life of Tiger nut drink