Peanut, oat, and chickpea composite plant-based milk alternatives: Formulation, optimization, and evaluation of nutritional, microbial, and shelf-life characteristics

• Study explores plant-based milk using peanuts, oats, and chickpeas, alternate to milk. • The ideal plant-based milk established is 30% peanuts, 10% oats, and 60% chickpeas. • Peanut-oat-chickpea milk is a nutritious, versatile beverage that offer health benefits. • Study seeks abundant agro-products to promote sustainable food practices. Plant-based milk (vegetal milk) is a valuable alternative for low-income populations in developing nations. The growth of vegetal milk market can be linked to various factors, including lactose intolerance, allergies to dairy proteins, cultural preferences, and dietary choices such as veganism, Paleo diet, and others. In this context, the study formulated and characterized vegetal nutritious milk derived from widely available domestic ingredients like peanuts, oats, and chickpeas. The vegetal milk was formulated using a mixture design, employing Design-expert software. The findings showed that the optimal vegetal milk composition of peanuts (30 ml), oats (10 ml), and chickpeas (60 ml) with a desirability score of 0.983. The proximate composition (g/100 mL) of optimized vegetal milk was 0.77±0.18, 3.42±0.01, 1.27±0.05, 9.02±0.45, and 61.20±1.88 kcal/100 mL of ash, protein, fat, carbohydrates, and energy, respectively. Also, minerals such as Ca, Fe, Mg, K, Zn, and Na were reported (mg/100 mL) as 74.66±0.33, 2.37±0.01, 45.57±0.32, 210.65±0.43, 1.06±0.03, and 25.54±0.3, respectively. Furthermore, the microbial analysis disclosed that during the subsequent storage days, microbial counts (total bacterial count & total fungal count) were observed on day 3 (2.15 × 10³ & 1.7 × 10³), day 6 (1.41 × 10⁵ & 8.70 × 10³), and day 9 (TNTC & 2.25 × 10⁴), respectively. The sensory analysis of vegetal milk was also undertaken; it is highly acceptable to the panellists. Thus, peanut-oat-chickpea vegetal milk currently under study has proved to be an easily accessible and complementary beverage that benefits adults and older individuals by supplying nutrients, and it can be stored for more than a week at ambient temperature.