Investigating the physicochemical characteristics of a functional drink based on sugarcane juice

The aim of this research was to optimize the formulation of a functional drink based on sugarcane juice using the response surface method (RSM) and in the form of Box Benken design. The ingredients used in the formulation were lemon juice (0.3, 6), turmeric (0.6, 0.3) and mint extract (0, 250, 500) in percentage and their physicochemical properties (pH, acidity, soluble solids, turbidity, color, total phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity) and sensory characteristics were investigated. The results showed that increasing the amount of lemon juice increased acidity, turbidity, L index, b index, phenolic compounds, antioxidant capacity and overall acceptance, but decreased pH, soluble solids and a index. The increase of turmeric caused a slight increase in the amount of soluble solids, b index and total phenolic compounds, while it decreased the antioxidant property and overall acceptance of the samples. With the increase in the amount of mint extract, turbidity, a and b indices, phenolic compounds and overall acceptance increased, but the amount of soluble solids and L index decreased. Finally, the optimization results showed that the sugarcane juice drink containing lemon juice (6%), turmeric (0.2%) and mint extract (418%) had the best physicochemical properties and the highest overall acceptance and can be recommended as a healthy drink in the industry.