Effect of sugar replacement with date paste and date syrup on texture and sensory quality of kesari (traditional Indian dessert)

In this study, a popular Indian dessert, kesari, was reformulated by substituting refined sugar at various levels (0%=control, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) with date past and syrup, and changes in instrumental texture profile, L*a*b* colour values and sensory properties were determined.  The hardness of date syrup kesari was higher than that of date paste kesari. However, there were no differences in hardness among various levels of replacement.  There were no differences between syrup vs paste products or among various levels of replacements in cohesiveness, springiness, gumminess, adhesiveness and chewiness of kesari.  The developed kesari scored 5.5 to 7.5 on a 9 level hedonic scale (like slightly-like moderately) in all sensory attributes.  Replacement of sugar at 75% and 100% levels, significantly lowered the scores for most of the sensory attributes.  Around 50% of the panellist in informed sensory, selected 50% replaced products (paste or syrup) as their first choice.