Effect of Stevia as a Substitute for Sugar on Physicochemical and Sensory Properties of Fruit Based Milk Shake

A food with low calorie density has high importance in managing health concerns attributed to food and nutrition. Replacing sucrose with natural intense sweeteners such as Stevia has been suggested as a way to produce foods with low caloric value. The present study has been conducted to formulate novel fruit based milk shake using a mixture of Kiwi, apple and banana concentrates by replacing sucrose partly with Stevia. Five different treatments of fruit milk shakes were prepared with sucrose/Stevia ratios of 100:0 (TA), 75:25 (TB), 50:50 (TC), 25:75 (TD) and 0:100 (TE). The physico-chemical properties of the beverage were examined using conventional methods. All the products were evaluated by sensory expert evaluators. Substitution of sucrose with Stevia had no remarkable effect on pH, acidity and vitamin C content of beverage. Total soluble solids of the beverage decreased in proportion to the reduction in sucrose content (P<0.05). Control treatment (TA) had the lowest total sugar content which was significantly different from TB, TC and TD (p<0.01). Among Stevia containing beverages, the best mean liking score belonged to sample TD followed by TB, TC and TE. The recommended ratio of sucrose/Stevia in beverage was 25:75. Stevia free beverage had the best sensorial acceptance. It is concluded that Stevia is a good choice to develop low sucrose beverages including fruit based milk shakes. Although Stevia had no adverse impact on physico-chemical properties, its sensorial acceptance is affected by its rate of addition.