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Awareness about medicinal values of plant-based milk as functional foods has created a need to switch from chemically fortified food products to naturally healthy plant-based foods, which offer essential nutrients required for various metabolic activities, and physiological stability. Therefore, this study was designed to enhance the nutrient contents, consumer acceptability, probiotics viability in plant-based milk from coconut, soybean, tiger nut fortified with extracts from Phoenix dactylifera (date fruit), Brassica juncea (mustard seeds), and Curcuma longa (turmeric). The bioactive compounds in extracts from date fruit, mustard seed, and turmeric were identified using Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Nutrient contents, organoleptic property, microbiological quality, probiotics viability, inhibition of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli , and antioxidant potentials of the fortified plant-based milk were determined using standard methods. Some of the bioactive compounds identified in plant extracts with the aid of GC-MS were isoquercetin, cis-oleic, sinigrin, erucic acid, α-phellandrene, zingiberene, and α – curcumene. The highest protein content (5.10%) was obtained in soy milk fortified with mustard seed (97%SM + 3%MS). Coconut milk (100%CM) had the lowest crude fibre of 0.30%. Plant milk (97%CM + 3%DG) supported the growth (× 10 5 CFU/mL) of Lactobacillus fermentum , Lactobacillus acidophilus , and Lactobacillus pentosus with values of 6.20, 5.80, and 4.60, respectively. Plant milk (97%TM + 3%MS) had the highest scavenging activity (89.10%) against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), while (97%SM+3%MS) showed the highest activity (305.10 µmol TE/mL) against ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). Plant-based milk fortified with extracts from date fruit, mustard seed, and turmeric displayed nutraceutical potentials and could be considered as promising alternative source of functional foods.
Ogidi et al. (Wed,) studied this question.