Phytochemical profiling of Thai plant-based milk alternatives: Insights into bioactive compounds, antioxidant activities, prebiotics, and amino acid abundance

This study compared the bioactive compounds, antioxidant activities, presence of prebiotic oligosaccharides, and amino acid profiles of six Thai plant-based milk alternatives: oat, yellow corn, tamarind seed, jackfruit seed, germinated red rice, and red rice milk. Among these six plant-based milks, oat milk exhibited the highest concentrations of amino acids and β-glucan. Jackfruit seed milk showed the closest resemblance to oat milk in terms of amino acid composition, suggesting its potential as a plant-based milk alternative. Tamarind seed milk demonstrated high levels of total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), antioxidant activity (measured by DPPH and FRAP), and presence of prebiotic oligosaccharides including raffinose, stachyose, and verbascose. Germinated red rice milk displayed significantly higher raffinose content compared to red rice milk. This investigation provides the first comprehensive report on the compositions of various Thai plant-based milks, highlighting their potential use in functional beverage development.