Development of a Sauce Using Gymnema sylvestre Leaves

Abstract

Plant derived products have attracted enormous attention due to their diverse range of biological and therapeutic properties. Gymnema sylvestre is an underutilized medicinal herb that is widely distributed in different parts of the world. It is rich in phytochemicals with antidiabetic and antiobesity properties; however, it is less popular due to its bitter taste. This study was focused on developing a sauce using leaves of Gymnema sylvestre. The most acceptable composition (17.2% water, 4.8% vinegar, 3.2% sweet potato, 2.6% chili, 2.0% sugar, 2.0% cinnamon, 2.0% cardamom, 1.8% ginger, 1.8% garlic, 1.2% onion, 1.2% salt, 0.1% citric acid, and 0.1% sodium benzoate) of the sauce was with 60% leaf extract. Final product contains 73.54% ± 1.68 moisture, 19.92% ± 2.59 carbohydrate, 2.98% ± 0.44 ash, 2.61% ± 0.58 protein, 0.88% ± 0.05 fiber, and 0.05% ± 0.01 fat. The total flavonoid content was 243.67 ± 8.57 µ moles of rutin equivalent, total phenolic content was 65.44 ± 0.51 µ moles of gallic acid equivalent, and % of inhibition of DPPH of total antioxidant capacity was 43.70 ± 0.72. Sauce formulated with 1000 ppm sodium benzoate had six weeks of shelf life. The results showed that development of a sauce from G. sylvestre leaves is an effective way of delivering the health benefits to the potential consumers.