Effect of Drying Duration on Production of Sabah Snake Grass (Clinachantus Nutans) Botanical Drink

Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of drying duration of Sabah Snake Grass (Clinachantus Nutans) botanical drinks on sensory properties, total phenolic content (TPC) and free radical scavenging activity (FRSA). Three types of drinks samples were produced using a Sabah Snake Grass leaves which dried by oven method at temperature 45oC for 2 days for Formulation 1 (F1), 5 days for Formulation 2 (F2) and without drying (FS). Sensory analysis is performed to determine the level of panel acceptance of attribute such as color, taste, aroma and overall acceptance of Sabah Snake Grass drinks. Next, all samples were analyzed to determine total phenolic content and antioxidant effect via 2, 2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazil (DPPH) scavenging activity. For sensory analysis, F2 resulted highest acceptance level by panelist compared to F1 and FS for all attributes and overall acceptance. Based on the result, F2 also showed highest total phenolic content (0.78 ppm) and highest percentage of inhibition compared to other samples. The results showed drying process could increase the acceptance level of panelist, phenolic content and scavenging activity of the Sabah Snake Grass drinks.