Chemical and Physico-Chemical Evaluation of Sesame Brittle Produced with Date Syrup

Sesame brittle is a crunchy traditional popular snack in Nigeria, especially in the North. Sesame seedswere processed by winnowing, sorting, washing, draining, drying, toasting, cooling and packaging. Datesyrup was produced from date fruits, which were sorted, washed, soaked in water for 2hours, deseeded,boiled, filtered, squeezed, heated to evapourate excess water until a thick consistency was formed.Sesame brittle was produced by incorporation of toasted sesame seed into the already prepared syrup,followed by, molding, cooling, cutting and packaging. Four samples of sesame brittle were producedthree samples comprised of sesame seeds and date syrup in the following ratios 200:150,150:150,100:150 designated as SBBA2, SBBB3 and SBBC4 respectively and a control sample made from sugarsyrup: sesame seed (200:150) (SBA1) The chemical composition and physico- chemical, properties ofsesame brittle were determined. Proximate composition of sesame brittle showed significant (p<0.05)differences existed among samples. Protein content ranged from 4.22-8.76%, carbohydrate contentranged from 52.24- 70.14%, and the energy levels ranged from 230.78-348.47kcal/100g. PH rangedfrom 5.10-6.00, total sugar 5.21-5.98%, and reducing sugar 3.31-3.55%, with significant (p<0.05)differences. In phytochemical composition significant (p<0.05) differences existed, phenol contentranged from 3.91-9.17g/100g, flavonoids ranged from 15.15-23.10g/100g, and phospholipids ranged1.65-2.06g/100g. Keywords: Sesame brittle, Date, Syrup, Sugar, Phytochemical