Volume 4 No.7, July 2014 ISSN 2224-3577 International Journal of Science and Technology ©2014 IJST. All rights reserved http://www.ejournalofsciences.org 124 Characterization of cooked and uncooked home-made ginger beverages produced in Lesotho in comparison with the commercial brand Mosotho J. George 1, Palesa Lesemane 1 , Emmanuel B. Tanor Fidele Tigizimana 2 1 Department of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, National University of Lesotho, P.O. Roma 180, Lesotho 2 Department of Biochemistry, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park 2006, Johannesburg, South Africa ABSTRACT This study reports the results of the assessment of nutritional and non-nutritional properties of both cooked and uncooked home-made ginger beverages produced by one cooperative in Maseru, Lesotho in comparison with one commercial brand obtained from local stores. The cooked ginger beer in general showed reduced contents for most of the parameters analysed: protein content (4.68 ± 0.32 g/100g) than the uncooked counterpart (6.48 ± 0.51 g/100g). The other concern was that the amount of benzoic acid in the home-made samples was almost three times higher than the commercial beer (1.08 - 1.60% compared to 0.35% for commercial sample), as a result needs to be reduced accordingly to the prescribed levels of < 0.1% in the home-made samples before commercialisation. A principal component analysis for the three samples demonstrated considerable degree of spurity among the three samples hence they do not compare well. However, the differences are not significant, hence the home-made juices can be marketed commercially, with the uncooked being the one more preferred and thus recommended. Keywords: ginger beer, home-made, commercial brand, Lesotho, principal component analysis. I. INTRODUCTION In response to the low employment rate in Lesotho, many people have resorted to packaging many food stuffs to earn a living. Packaging of traditional beverages has demonstrated a viable venture to most small-scale packagers. Ginger beer is one of such beverages whose consumption is wide-spread in Lesotho both in celebrations and bereavements thereby sparking interest by some people to prepare and bottle these beverages for sale. However, it is still unknown whether this consumption is merely for thirst quenching, taste or for the nutritional value that is well- documented for this beverage. Ginger is an underground stem or rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale with warm, sweet, strongly aromatic odour and sharp pungent flavour. 1 Ginger has a long use in South Asia, both in dried and fresh form. The Hindu epic Mahabharato written around the 4 th century BC describes some meat-stew seasoned with ginger and other spices; while in the Manasollasa literature written in the 11 th century AD, ginger was mentioned as flavouring for buttermilk drinks. Its use as a food became much more widespread by the 13 th century AD with the advent of Muslim rule in India with its trade reaching almost $200 million in 2009. 2 It is used as an essential spice in curry powder, ginger bread and can be brewed in boiling water to make ginger beverages such as beers and tea. 3 The taste and pungency of ginger increases with the maturity of the plant, thus young rhizomes are juicy and fleshy with a very mild taste while juice from old rhizomes are extremely potent and sharp. Ginger is often used as a spice in Chinese cuisines. 4 It can be used as ingredient in soups, candies or used as flavouring for cookies, crackers and cake. 5 Ginger has been reported to contain 0.25 - 3.3% (usually 1–3%) volatile oil; pungent principles (gingerols and shogaols); glycosides of geraniol and gingerdiol; about 6 - 8% lipids composed of triglycerides, phosphatidic acid, lecithins, free fatty acids (lauric, palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, etc.), gingerglycolipids, and others; protein (9%); starch (up to 50%); vitamins (especially niacin and A); minerals; amino acids; gingesulfonic acid, resins; and others. 6 Ginger has many health benefits some of which are discussed herein. It is claimed to help against ailments such as: nausea and vomiting (antiemetic) during motion sickness and sea-sickness 7 and in post-operative patients, 8 possesses central and peripheral anti cholinergic and antihistaminic effects; 9 hyper emesis gravid arum (serious cases of “morning sickness”), especially during the first trimester of pregnancy. 10,11 It is also reported to stimulate appetite and to promote digestion and as an anti- flatulence or carminative to reduce gas and bloating; 12,13 temporary relief and protection against gastrointestinal ulcers, 13 improves blood circulation and lowers blood glucose in the treatment of diabetes. 14 This report presents the analysis and assessment of nutritional and non-nutritional properties of both cooked and uncooked ginger beverages produced by Sekhutlong Farmers Association, a home-based cooperative in Maseru, Lesotho for baseline information gathering in order to advise the cooperative about the product’s fit for purpose. With only few brands of ginger beverages available commercially in Lesotho, and the fact that