Enhancing nutritional profile, antioxidant capacity, sensory characteristics, and shelf life of coconut snowball (Naru) through Borassus flabellifer endosperm substitution

Coconut snowball (Naru/ Ladoo) is a conventional Indian sweet made out of coconut endosperm and sugar/ jaggery. However, coconut snowball has a limited shelf-life (3–4 weeks) and lose their textural properties with time in refrigerated conditions, due to the presence of high amounts of saturated fatty acids. This present study is aimed to utilize tender endosperm (Talsas/ Nungu) of Palmyra palm ( Borassus flabellifer ) as an ingredient for coconut snowball to improve its nutritional and sensory attributes. In this study, the optimum cooking time, amount of coconut, and Talsas endosperm obtained through Box-Behnken model were 22.5 min, 52.25% and 22.5%, respectively. Fortification increased the levels of total polyphenol content, total flavonoid content, ferric reducing antioxidant activity, and 2, 2′-Azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6 sulfonic acid) radical scavenging property by 45.39%, 3.25-fold, 6.68-fold and 2.34-fold, respectively. HPLC analysis of Naru samples revealed the presence of six polyphenols (kaemferol, myricetin, gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, quercetin, rutin). Additionally, in-vitro lipid digestibility, lipid oxidation studies microbiological analysis, and sensory studies were conducted to determine the role of Talsas endosperm substitution in coconut snowball. Based on these experiments, it can be concluded that fortification of Coconut Naru with Talsas endosperm significantly enhanced its nutritional profile, antioxidant capacity, sensory characteristics, and shelf life by only up to 75 days.