Efficacy of selected herbs for their potential antioxidant activity in burfi, an Indian sweetmeat

Abstract

Turmeric, ginger and cardamom were incorporated into burfi from 0.5-1.5% level and evaluated for anti-oxidative, instrumental color and sensorial attributes. Anti-oxidative activity was found to increase significantly (p<0.05) with increase in the level of herbs.  Hunter colour values also changed significantly (p<0.05) with herbs level. Increasing turmeric level increased (p<0.05) redness (a* value) and yellowness (b* value, and cardamom decreased lightness (L* value). Addition of more than 0.5% turmeric, 1.0% ginger and 1.0% cardamom resulted in significant (p<0.05) decrease in sensory scores. These levels were considered optimum for incorporation into burfi. Highest anti-oxidative activity was observed with turmeric added samples followed by ginger and cardamom exhibited the least, but all the samples had significantly (p<0.05) higher activity than control and lower than BHA (200 ppm) added samples. Considering all the studied attributes, ginger (1%) was found to be the most suitable herb for incorporation into burfi.