Preparation of green tea from sweetpotato leaves

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2005-11-03
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Sweet potato is a crop which is gaining popularity in production. There is an increased cultivation of the sweet potato crop in Ghana in recent time. However, much of the end use is restricted to the roots. The sweet potato tops are highly rich in B vitamins, Iron, Calcium, Zinc and Protein. Green tea was prepared from five different varieties of sweet potato tops in an attempt to find other uses for the tops since it has been noted to have good medicinal properties. The harvested tops were divided into two parts. One half was blanched, dried, milled and packaged in non-drip tea bags. They were labeled as “blanched”, whilst the other half was dried, milled and packaged and also labeled as “fresh”. They were stored in a freezer and analyses carried out. Parameters determined were pH, Water Soluble Extractives (WSE), Light Petroleum Extractives (LPE), Phenolics, Ash, Moisture, Fibre, Crude Protein, Calcium, Iron and Copper. Sensory evaluation was also carried out on the samples. Results showed that green tea from sweet potato leaves from both treatments had their Phenolic content ranging from O.0867mg/g to 0.3185mg/g, pH 6.29-6.77, LPE 1.675% — 2.485% and WSE 6.322% - 8.540%. Results from the sensory analysis indicated that in both treatments, tea from the sweet potato tops had better sensory properties in terms of flavour, aroma, aftertaste and overall acceptability than the commercial green tea. However the “fresh” samples had better sensory properties than the “blanched” ones.
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A thesis submitted to the College of Science in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Master of Science, 2005
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