Development of a blended beverage consisting of coconut water and cashew apple juice containing caffeine

Summary The objective of this work was to evaluate the acceptability of coconut water/cashew apple juice blends containing 100 p.p.m. of added caffeine. Five formulations with different concentrations of cashew apple juice, previously standardised with respect to pH values, total soluble solids (°Brix) and caffeine contents, were evaluated. The formulations were subjected to chemical characterisation (pH, soluble solids, acidity, total sugar and vitamin C), microbial and sensory evaluation (colour, flavour, overall quality and purchase intention). All samples showed good acceptability, but the formulation with 12.5% cashew apple juice and 87.5% coconut water reached the highest hedonic scores. All formulations showed good microbiological quality. The results showed that the vitamin C content presented a great difference among the formulations varying according to the proportion of cashew apple juice.