Introduction

Tahini is a creamy sesame paste made from roasted, hulled, and ground sesame seeds ¹ and is one of the most recognized sesame culinary foods worldwide ^2,3,4. It has also long been considered a functional food due to its health-promoting properties ¹.  Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is an oilseed that is widely cultivated in different parts of the world ⁵, mainly in the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, and South America ⁶.

Sesame is considered the “queen of oilseeds” due to its multiple nutritional qualities ⁷, such as high protein content, essential fatty acids, antioxidants, minerals; it is also important in medicine due to the presence of bioactive compounds such as sesamolin and sesamin, which have anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antihypertensive properties, among others ^8,9.

According to the FAO¹⁰, global sesame production reached 2,376,000 tons in 2022. In Colombia, a wide variety of seeds are grown, with sesame being one of the most representative ¹¹, with a national production of 3,950.38 tons in 2022. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Agriculture, sesame production in Magdalena was the highest in Colombia in 2022, with a share of 45.07%, followed by Bolivar with 21.97% ¹².

Although sesame has many benefits and large global production, it has not been fully exploited as its use has been mostly limited to the production of edible oil¹; however, the most popular form of consumption is whole and roasted ^{13, 14}. Other uses include the preparation of salads, bars, biscuits, spreads, and the manufacture of bakery products ^15,16.

Of the sesame preparations, tahini stands out, which is mainly used as a food additive, being used as a condiment, seasoning, and butter ⁴. Several studies recommend and promote the consumption of this food due to its multiple nutritional qualities ^{3, 17, 18}, but it is necessary to improve its sensory qualities to promote its consumption as a staple food and not as an additive.

New trends have focused on the consumption of healthy foods with high nutritional and sensory quality ¹⁹, the latter being a challenge for the food industry, which, faced with consumer demands, has opted to incorporate additives of natural origin ²⁰. Among the natural additive products that stand out the most in the food industry are honey ²¹ and cocoa derivatives ²². Honey is a natural sweetener that provides carbohydrates just like table sugar ²³, but it has a higher sweetening power and its assimilation is easier compared to sucrose because it contains short-chain carbohydrates ²⁴. In Colombia, honey production reached 3,851 tons in 2020 ²⁵, demonstrating the potential use of this bee resource.

For several years, have been conducted to evaluate the effects of incorporating other products into tahini or sesame paste; Arslan, ²⁶  investigated the rheological properties of tahini/pekmez blends and observed that the incorporation of pekmez modified the rheological behavior and sensory attributes; Hou, ²⁷ investigated the chemical, rheological and sensory properties of nine different brands of sesame paste, the results showed significant differences in terms of proximate composition and rheological parameters; Tomruk, ²⁸ investigated the rheological properties of sesame paste blends prepared with grape juice concentrate, honey, and sugar syrup. More recently, Saatchi, ²⁹ investigated the effect of using sesame protein concentrate and a conjugated form of the protein with maltodextrin to improve paste rheology.

In this context, the objective of this research was to evaluate the quality attributes through proximal, microbiological, and sensory analysis, and the rheological behavior of tahini with the addition of natural sweetener, honey, and cocoa liquor, using crops native to Colombia in the formulation of the product.

Materials and Methods

Sesame paste preparation

The sesame paste was prepared according to the methodology described by Abid, ¹ ,Acevedo, ³⁰, and Alaouie, ³¹, and with some modifications. Sesame seeds from a local shop in Santa Marta, Magdalena (Colombia) were used. The seeds were rendered suitable by immersing them in water at room temperature for 12 hours and then placing them in a 23% saline solution for five minutes to mechanically separate the hulls. The dehulled and washed seeds were roasted in an oven HE2750-Challerger S.A. at 140°C for 30 minutes and ground in a mechanical disc mill. The tahini obtained was stored in a sterile glass container under refrigeration until use.

Cocoa liquor preparation

The methods described by Ramirez, ³² and Pablo, ³³ with modifications, were used to prepare the cocoa liquor. Cocoa beans from a local shop in the department of Magdalena, Santa Marta, were used and roasted in a convection oven T043M, Tornado at 110ºC for 25 min. The roasted beans were then crushed and dehulled using a Hamilton Beach coffee grinder to obtain 0.5-0.25 cm pieces (nibs). The nibs were separated from the shell and ground in a mortar and pestle mill, RM-200, Retsch, at a temperature of 40°C until cocoa liquor was obtained. Finally, the cocoa liquor was stored in sterile glass containers and kept refrigerated until use.

Experimental design and incorporation of honey and cocoa liquor into tahini

The tahini with honey and cocoa liquor was developed taking into account the formulations established in Table 1, which consists of a 2x2x2 factorial design to half fraction, in which the following factors were considered: tahini concentration (70 and 80%), honey (30 and 20%) and cocoa (6 and 9%), levels were established by preliminary tests. A total of eight experimental formulations were carried out, four of which were chosen so that the sum of the percentages of tahini and honey was 100%. The procedure was as follows: sesame paste, honey, and then cocoa mass were mixed in a Kitchen Aid mixer, K45SS Classic Stand Mixer, for 3 minutes to obtain a product with a pasty texture. The samples of tahini with added honey and cocoa liquor were packaged in glass jars and pasteurized at 95°C for 10 minutes. They were then stored at 4°C until further analysis.

Table 1: Tahini formulations (%)

Proximal análisis

The following parameters were determined by the AOAC, ³⁴: fat by method No. 996.06, protein by method No. 992.15, moisture by method No. 926.01, crude fiber by method No. 991.43, ash by muffle combustion and carbohydrates by the difference in weight. Analyses were performed in triplicate. In addition, the caloric content was calculated using the Atwater coefficients, i.e. for protein 4.0, carbohydrate 4.0, and lipid 9.0.

Microbiological analysis of the final product

Microbiological analysis of the final product was carried out according to the Colombian technical standard NTC 1055 for milled products and pasta ³⁵. Total and fecal coliform counts, fungal and yeast counts (CFU/g), and total mesophilic aerobic counts (CFU/g) were realized, the latter following the method described in NTC 1273 for honey ³⁶.

Rheological characterization

Preliminary tests were carried out on each of the tahini formulations in triplicate. Rheological measurements were performed in a Kinesux Pro rotational rheometer, Malvern Instruments Ltda, using a parallel plate geometry. All samples were allowed to rest for 15 minutes before measurement. A shear rate sweep from 1×10^-2s^-1 to 1×10² s^-1 was performed on each sample. The values of the rheological parameters were obtained: apparent viscosity (η), flow index n, consistency coefficient K, and linear correlation of each treatment R². The temperature of the samples was kept at 25°C+/-0.01°C and the data were fitted to the Ostwald de Waele model using the Bohlin rheometer software.

Sensory evaluation

The analysis was carried out taking into account the ICONTEC, ³⁷. The sensory evaluation of all formulations was carried out by a panel of 50 judges, within the age range of 18 to 40 years, regular consumers of sesame and/or cocoa products. The samples were presented in completely clean plastic containers, under the same conditions for all panelists, approximately 15 grams at ambient temperature, with water used between the evaluation of one formulation and another. This analysis consisted of a modified 5-point hedonic scale, where 1= I dislike it very much, 2= I dislike it moderately, 3= I neither like nor dislike it, 4= I like it moderately and 5= I like it very much; 4 basic parameters were evaluated: color, taste, texture and general acceptability.

Data analysis

The statistical analysis was carried out using IBM SPSS Statistics version 23. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the mean and standard deviation parameter evaluated in the proximal and sensory analyses. In addition, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s HSD test were performed at a significance level of (p≤0.05).

Results and discussion

Proximal composition

The results of the proximate analysis of tahini sweetened with honey and cocoa liquor are shown in Table 2. These results show that the formulations have high bromatological values. It was observed that the fat, protein, ash, and fiber contents were directly proportional to the concentration of sesame paste. These results are in agreement with those reported by Sanja, ³⁸ who observed that sesame paste, when added as a supplement to another food matrix, is directly proportional to the nutritional content of the final product. However, the moisture and carbohydrate content was dependent on the proportion of honey, an analysis based on the fact that honey is a highly concentrated solution of sugar in water ³⁹.

Table 2: Proximate analysis of tahini samples added with honey and cocoa liquor.

Medians within columns followed by the same letter are not significantly different (p≤0.05)

* *Calories calculated for each 100 g of product

Similar results were found in the literature on the proximate composition of tahini or sesame paste ^{27, 38, 40, 41, 42}. The consistency of these results with the literature indicates that this product has sufficient nutritional properties for consumption. On the other hand, the caloric value of the samples was found to be in the range of 480 and 525 kcal, USDA, ⁴³ has reported that traditional tahini provides up to 595 kcal per 100g of product. Therefore, it can be said that the tahini obtained in this research has a lower caloric intake and it is considered good and healthy.

The results of the proximate analysis of the samples are significant and indicate that the tahini samples have a high nutritional value, as reported by Arab, ⁴⁴, sesame or sesame products can act on health by preventing degenerative diseases and favoring the organism. Sample F4 stands out with higher values for fat, protein, ash, fiber, and calories, indicating a higher nutritional content compared to samples F1, F2, and F3.

Microbiological analysis of the final product

The microbiological analysis is presented in Table 3. These results show that the microbial counts of all the samples are below the maximum limits allowed by current regulations. This can be attributed to the high percentage of fat, protein, and carbohydrates, as opposed to the low percentage of moisture in the sesame paste, and therefore low water activity, which is an important factor in preventing the growth of microorganisms that cause product deterioration ⁴⁵.

Table 3: Microbiological analysis of formulations F1, F2, F3 and F4.

* Limit according to NTC 1055(NTC, 2014) and NTC 1273(NTC,2023)

In addition, the survival of microorganisms is influenced by the temperature parameter, some researchers observed that in tahini and halva, the growth rate was significantly reduced when the products were stored under different conditions, with the result that the development of microorganisms was inhibited at low temperatures ⁴⁶. Consequently, these favorable results can be attributed to proper handling, heat treatment, and refrigerated storage conditions. Studies by Kilci, ⁴⁷; Szpinak, ⁴⁸ and Olaimat, ⁴⁹ showed similar results. 

Rheological characterization

Figure 1 shows the superimposed results of the flow curves of formulations F1, F2, F3, and F4 as a function of apparent viscosity and strain rate γ* fitted to the Ostwald de Waele model.

Figure 1: Reogram adjusted to the Ostwald de Waele model. Click here to view Figure

It is observed that the apparent viscosity of all the characterized formulations shows a decrease with increasing strain rate, indicating that shear thinning and non-Newtonian behavior occurred in all the samples analyzed. In studies by Kiani, ⁵⁰, a decrease in apparent viscosity with increasing strain rate was reported when evaluating the rheological behavior of a sesame paste; similar results were observed by Jin, ⁴⁰, Acevedo, ⁵¹ and Khaji, ⁵². This behavior is known as pseudoplastic⁵³ and, according to other researchers Velasquez-Barreto, ⁵⁴, is generated when there is a rupture in the polysaccharide molecular network, since the shear rate of the paste during deformation is higher than the rearrangement of the molecules, in addition to being generated by the orientation of the molecules in the direction of flow, which presents a lower resistance to shear forces ⁵².

Comparing the lines of the reogram, it can be observed that formulation F4 has higher values than the other samples; therefore, it can be said to have the highest apparent viscosity, a behavior that is maintained as the strain rate increases. These results are consistent with those reported by Hou, ²⁷, who reported that the formulation of a spreadable paste with a higher concentration of fats, proteins, and lower moisture content provides a higher reinforcement to the structure of the system, thus increasing its resistance to deformation.

Table 4: Rheological flow measurements in the Ostwald de Waele model.

Table 4 shows the flow measurements in the Ostwald de Waele model. The values of the flow behavior index n were less than 1, which is consistent with the previous flow diagram, since according to Acevedo, ⁵¹, values less than 1 indicate pseudoplastic behavior, however, these values were below the range (0.77-0.94) reported by Kiani, ⁵⁰, which can be explained by considering the presence of other components such as cocoa liquor and honey, the latter being the one that is present in more significant proportions in the final product. As reported by Daubert, ⁵⁵, when the flow behavior index decreases, the material becomes more liquid, this result is observed in the behavior of tahini, since honey, provides a high percentage of water between 13 and 23% ⁵⁶, modifies the structure of the matrix, causing a decrease in this rheological parameter by increasing the fluidity.

The consistency index K presented values in the range of 2,502 Pa*s and 3,170 Pa*s in the Ostwald de Waele model. Formulation F4 presented the highest K value. These results are in line with those presented by Jafar, ⁵⁷, who reported that a higher addition of sesame paste increased the consistency, as well as honey by providing a large content of carbohydrates ⁵⁸. When analyzing the linear correlation coefficients of the mathematical model studied, it is observed that they have a minimum R² of 0.9978, indicating that the formulations were adequately adapted to the rheological model.

Sensory evaluation

The results of the sensory analysis are presented in Table 5. As shown for the color attribute, F1 was the most preferred with a mean of 4.28, this acceptability was mainly dependent on the percentage of cocoa liquor, it was observed that as the concentration of cocoa liquor increased, the samples became darker in color.

Table 5: Sensory analysis results of tahini sweetened with honey and cocoa liquor addition.

Medians within columns followed by the same letter are not significantly different (p≤0.05)

The formulation with the highest score in flavor, texture, and overall appearance attributes was F4, this treatment was characterized by containing the highest proportion of sesame paste and cocoa liquor. Similar results were observed in a study by Sanja, ³⁸, when characterizing food matrices containing tahini halvah and cocoa, these showed better sensory properties and acceptability compared to the other ingredients evaluated. Similarly, Akbulut, ⁵⁹ evaluated the overall appearance of sesame paste mixed with pine honey and found similar results to those presented in this study, attributing the good acceptability to a dilution effect of the sweetness of pine honey on the oiliness of sesame paste, which improves the sensory acceptability of the product. On the other hand, Altay, ⁶⁰ evaluated the consumer acceptability of the tahini/pekmez mixture and stated that it is highly dependent on the spreadability of other materials, such as bread. These results may explain the results presented in Table 5.

Conclusions

This research showed that making tahini with a natural sweetener and cocoa liquor is an alternative way of using local resources. According to the results, the F4 formulation showed the highest nutritional content and greater sensory acceptability and all samples were microbiologically acceptable. The rheological characteristics showed a non-Newtonian pseudoplastic behavior with a high adaptation to the Ostwald de Waele model in all the formulations studied, with F4 standing out for having the highest values of rheological parameters, which are indicative of the establishment of adequate processing conditions.

These results allow us to affirm that obtaining this tahini based on the F4 formulation could be viable from a technological point of view and that the incorporation of new ingredients can modify the traditional tahini to promote its consumption. In this sense, it is suggested to explore other substitutions for tahini using natural ingredients that take advantage of local crops and diversify this traditional product.

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the University of Cartagena for its financial support through the Seventh Call for the Financing of Research Projects for Undergraduate Seed Groups affiliated to Visible Research Groups (Categorized or Recognized) in the Scienti Platform of the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation – Colciencias and approved by the University of Cartagena.

Funding Sources

The research was funded by the University of Cartagena through the Seventh Call for the Financing of Research Projects for Undergraduate Seed Groups affiliated to Visible Research Groups (Categorized or Recognized) in the Scienti Platform of the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation – Colciencias and approved by the University of Cartagena.

Conflict of Interest

There is no conflict of interest.

Authors’ Contribution

This article is the result of the collaborative effort of several researchers with diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise. The individual contributions of each author are detailed below:

Piedad Montero Castillo: Conceptualization of the study, methodological design and data analysis.

Karina Vivanco Zuñiga: Conducting experiments, collecting and analysing results.

Delibeth Cuadro Álvarez: Support in conducting experiments, compilation and analysis of results.

Data Availability Statement

The manuscript incorporates all datasets produced or examined throughout this research study.

Ethics Statement

No human or animal testing was performed. All methods used were non-invasive and data were obtained from public sources and existing databases. Confidentiality of information was assured and permission was obtained for the use of copyrighted material.

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