Physical characteristics of instanised Cocoa drink sweetened with Palm Sap Sugar: A preliminary study

Palm sap sugar is a natural sweetener made from sap collected from the flowers of several species of palm tree. This sugar is highly produce in South-East and South Asian regions, such as Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and India. Its use improves the taste, colour and aroma of drink and food products. This work investigated the impact of palm sap sugar and processing method on the solubility and appearance of instanised cocoa powder. In this study, three cocoa powder blends with different palm sap sugar proportion, namely 15, 30, and 45 were used as a sweetener. The results showed that the solubility of cocoa drink increased as the proportion of palm sap sugar was increased. With regard to the appearance, the lightness of the cocoa drink decreased as the proportion of palm sap sugar was increased. This study revealed that the lightness of the cocoa drink decreased and the solubility increased as the number of agglomeration process repetition was increased.