Effect of Different Carrier Agents on the Yield of Powered Plant Beverage Obtained by Spray Drying and Characterization of Physicochemical Properties

Plant-based foods have become increasingly popular among consumers because of their health benefits and their sustainable nature. Powdered foods are a convenient option that are easy to store and transport. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a powdered plant-based beverage using a combination of chickpeas, quinoa, sweet potato, brown rice, and cocoa and evaluate the effect of different carrier agents (10% maltodextrin or 10% pea protein isolate) and dilution percentages (0, 30, 50, 70, and 90%) on the powder yield. The powered plant beverage was obtained by spray drying. M4 (maltodextrin4), with a 60% dilution and 10% maltodextrin, was selected for physicochemical characterization. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the resulting powdered beverage had an amorphous structure. The M4 sample exhibits a pH of 5.38 ± 0.09, titratable acidity of 0.78 ± 0.04, moisture content of 2.61 ± 0.22%, water activity of 0.23 ± 0.02, solubility of 52.29 ± 2.94, hygroscopicity of 5.00 ± 0.86, bulk density of 0.40 ± 0.0 g/mL, and rehydration time of 34.57 s. The content of ash was 0.51 ± 0.07%, protein was 3.85 ± 0.14%, lipid was 1.46 ± 0.18%, carbohydrates was 91.37 ± 0.15%, energy value was 119.91 ± 0.14 kcal/100 mL, and insoluble, soluble, and total fibers were 5.51 ± 1.24, 1.51 ± 0.42, and 6.69 ± 1.61%, respectively. The antioxidant activity was 99.36 ± 0.17%. NMR spectroscopy detected sucrose, maltotriose, and threonine as the primary organic compounds. In conclusion, this product shows promising market potential because of its favorable characteristics, such as its amorphous nature, nonhygroscopicity, satisfactory rehydration time, and antioxidant activity.