Development and Quality, Chemical and Sensory Evaluation of Nutritive Herbal Blend

Herbal blends have obtained popularity due to their health benefits, good fragrance and antioxidant capacity. Herbal tea is a famous drink due to its low cost, attractive taste and aroma. Objectives: To assess the nutritional properties of herbal blends and to develop an herbal blend using locally available herbs. Methods: The developed herbal blend was 40% rose, 15% lemongrass, 15% Tulsi leaves, 10% cinnamon, 10% ginger and 10% fennel. Rose, Tulsi and lemongrass leave was dried in a hot air oven. All ingredients were ground. Then this prepared ground herbal mixture was subjected to proximate analysis for moisture, ash content, crude protein, crude fat and crude fiber. Afterwards, physiochemical and sensory tests of prepared tea were done to check the pH, colour and sensory evaluation of the tea. Then the developed tea was subjected to phytochemical and antioxidant activity assays to check total phenolic contents and 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl. Proximate analysis and physiochemical analysis of the product were done at regular intervals. Results: Sensory characteristics and consumer acceptability of mixed herbal blends as tea alternative was evaluated through the hedonic survey. Sensory scores were higher for the prepared herbal blend as compared to the control. Conclusions: It was concluded that the developed herbal blend possessed significant nutritional value and antioxidant activity, making it an attractive alternative to tea. Its pleasant taste and ability to stay stable over time indicate that herbs can be used to make healthy, inexpensive drinks. Further studies are required to enhance its functional applications.