Production of Carbonated Drink Using Reziz Date Dibs and Hulu-Mur Flavour

Valorisation of raw foods can substantially improve the resilience of the food chain, thereby mitigating the escalating food crisis. As date fruits contain most of the essential ingredients, it could serve as an unprecedented source of functional food production. This study aimed at valorising the commercially less valued date fruit, reziz, to prepare a carbonated drink. The collected reziz date fruit was subjected to date syrup (dibs) extraction using a specifically designed apparatus, Dibsi 10101, at 4 different pressures, 1000, -1.4, -2.8 and -5.5 millibar (mbar). However, the dibs extracted at -5.5 mbar yielded better clear dibs and thus was used in downstream production. Hulu-Mur (sweet and sour), a nutrient-rich flavouring agent derived from sorghum and Sudanese spices extract, was used as a favour enhancer. To produce the carbonated drink "Abridate," a different proportion of Hulu-Mur extract (1:5 w/v) and carbon dioxide were blended and subjected to a 10-point hedonic organoleptic evaluation. The results demonstrated that the superior Abridate was obtained by blending 6.89% of Hulu-Mur flavour extract with 11.8 TSS dibs at 4-bar carbon dioxide pressure. Abridate was comparable to commercially available carbonated beverages and held a substantial advantage over hazardous carbonated drinks due to its organic nature. KEYWORDS Abridate, carbonated drink, date palm, dibs, Hulu-Mur, reziz, soft drink