Formulation and Quality Evaluation of Black Tea-infused Toffee: An Innovative Confectionary Product

Abstract

Tea plays an integral part in the daily life of most people around the globe. They often consume tea as a morning beverage to energize themselves. Tea has several health benefits, like antioxidative, antimicrobial, cholesterol-lowering, and cardioprotective activity. Despite the widespread consumption, limited options of tea are available that offer convenience to the consumers. The present research work aims to bridge the gap between the need and convenience by changing the form of consumption as tea toffee infused with tea extract (2 to 6 %), providing the consumers a convenient option complementary to fast paced lifestyle. This study formulated a black tea-infused toffee and evaluated its physicochemical and sensory properties via a 9-point hedonic scale. The sensory analysis projected favoured toffee with 4 % tea extract based on a higher sensory quality and overall acceptability score of (7.9/9). The toffee containing 4 % of tea extract formulation successfully balanced the taste, texture, and flavor. This product achieved a successful combination of the nutritional properties of tea with the popularity of a sweet, ready-to-eat treat. Increased tea extract from 0 to 6 % resulted in an increase in ash and fat content, while the decrease in moisture, protein, and carbohydrates projected the nutritional status of tea toffee.