Influence of Roasting time and ingredient optimization on the Nutritional, Sensory and Storage Quality of Sesame-Honey spread

The study examined the impact of different sesame-honey ratios and roasting duration on the nutritional profile, sensory characteristics, and shelf life of sesame-honey spread.Twenty-five treatment combinations were applied to 5 sesame-honey ratios ranging from 90:10 to 50:50.Roasting times were 5 to 25 minutes for each ratio.A formulation processing optimization design of 5 × 5 was used to study the relationship between sesame-honey spread samples.The proximate analysis, free fatty acid (FFA) content, sensory acceptability, and microbiological quality were evaluated.The formulation ratio significantly affected the protein (6.57-16.47%),fat (39.90-66.87%),and carbohydrate contents (9.26-39.90%)(P < 0.05), while roasting time significantly affected fat content and FFA development (p < 0.05).A sensory evaluation with 50 untrained panelists showed that the formulations were very different in terms of taste, smell, texture, and overall acceptability (p < 0.05).The highest rate of sensory acceptability was scored for the 70:30 sesame-honey formulation (7.86 ± 1.18).Free fatty acids (FFA) increased from 0.12% at week 0 to 0.28% under room temperature conditions and 0.30% under elevated temperature conditions during 8 weeks of storage.Total viable count remained between 1.2 × 10² and 1.7 × 10² cfu/g throughout the storage period, which falls within the acceptable limits for ready-to-eat spreads.The findings outlined that formulation ratio and roasting time play a key role in enhancing the nutritional quality, sensory acceptance, and storage stability of sesame-honey spread.