Effects of Flavour and Sweetners on Nutritive Value and Consumer Acceptance of Soymilk.

Soymilk is a highly nutritious and beneficial food product. The effects of different flavours and sweeteners on the
quality and consumer acceptability of soymilk were studied. Soymilk samples were prepared using the Illinois
method and stored at refrigerated temperatures for five days. Soymilk samples were flavoured with strawberry,
vanilla and pineapple flavours and sweetened with sugar and aspartame variantly. Sensory evaluation was conducted
in order to determine the acceptability of the samples. The proximate composition, physicochemical characteristics
and microbiological characteristics were evaluated on the day of production, the third and fifth day of storage. The
statistical analysis was carried out using the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at 95% confidence limit and Duncan
test. The pH and total titratable acidity ranged from 5.2 to 5.4 and 0.010 to 0.042g/100g the first day respectively, 4.7
to 5.0 and 0.010 to 0.032g/100g on the third day respectively and 4.7 to 5.2 and 0.02 to 0.08g/100g on the fifth day
respectively. The average percent crude protein and percent ash of the samples were 3.73% and 0.11% on the first
day respectively, 3.80% and 0.13% on the third day respectively. The sensory evaluation revealed that there was
preference for strawberry flavoured soymilk sweetened with sugar. There was statistically significant difference
between the crude protein content, fat content, viscosity, total solids, total titratable acidity, moisture content and
the carbohydrate content of the samples over the period of storage. There was no significant difference in the pH
of the samples on the first day and the ash content of the samples on the fifth day.