Research Journal of Food Science and Nutrition Volume 6(3), pages 22-29, October 2021 Article Number: CABE43681 ISSN: 2536-7080 https://doi.org/10.31248/RJFSN2021.122 https://integrityresjournals.org/journal/RJFSN Full Length Research Effects of orange-fleshed sweet potato supplementation on the phytochemical composition, physicochemical, and sensory properties of sorghum-based kunu-zaki A. G. Ibrahim, J. A. Ayo* and H. M. Joseph Department of Food Science and Technology, Federal University Wukari, Nigeria. *Corresponding author. Email: jeromeayo@gmail.com; Tel: +234 802 420 3245. Copyright © 2021 Ibrahim et al. This article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited Received 20th September, 2021; Accepted 8th October, 2021 ABSTRACT: The phytochemical, physicochemical, and sensory properties of the blended kunun-zaki were determined. The fermented sorghum paste was substituted for orange-fleshed sweet potato puree at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 50% to produce orange-fleshed sweet potato-sorghum blended kunun-zaki. The phytochemical composition: carotenoids, flavonoids, and vitamin A content of the blended kunun-zaki increased from 0 to 28.14 mg/100g, 0 to 191.50 mg/100g and 0.44 to 7.74 mg/100g respectively, while the tannin content decreased from 4.97 to 1.51 mg/100g, with an increase in added orange-fleshed sweet potato puree. The effects were significant (p = 0.05). The physicochemical properties: pH, total soluble solids, total solid and specific gravity increased from 3.97 to 4.10, 4.95 to 8.25°Brix, 1.55 to 2.80 g/100g and 5.65 to 13.70 g/100g respectively, while the acidity decreased from 39.21 to 12.00 g/100g, with increase in the added orange-fleshed sweet potato puree (0-50%). The average mean scores for sensory quality; flavour, colour and taste increased from 6.70 to 7.06, 6.70 to 7.41 and 6.43 to7.40 respectively, whereas odour, mouth feel and appearance decreased with increasing inclusion level of oranged-fleshed sweet potato puree from 7.90 to 6.93, 7.40 to 6.40 and 7.26 to 6.72 respectively. Overall results show that the beverage formulated were generally acceptable of which the sample containing 20% orange-fleshed sweet puree was most preferred. The addition of oranged-fleshed sweet potato puree improved the phytochemical content and the sensory quality [taste, flavour and colour] of the sorghum-based kunun-zaki. Keywords: Kunun-zaki, orange-fleshed sweet potato, sensory properties, sorghum. INTRODUCTION Cereal beverage products are one of the main thirst quenchers of an average individual in North-Eastern Nigeria and Africa as a whole (Agarry et al., 2000). Several methods in cereals preparation give rise to different beverage food products (Gaffa and Ayo, 2002). These techniques could be as a result of culture, tradition, and individual taste, with or without combining other ingredients to make up the beverage food product (Aderinola and Oluwamukomi, 2021). Locally made beverages of cereal origin include Machacha, Burukutu, Pito, Busa, Kafir, and Kunu among others. Kunu is a Hausa name for unfermented beverages. Kunun-zaki is a local fermented beverage made from ungerminated cereal grains (Oluwajoba et al., 2013). It is among the widely consumed cereal-based non-alcoholic, non-carbonated beverages in Northern Nigeria (Aderinola and Oluwamukomi, 2021). Kunu occurs differently and their names are obtained based on the type of raw material used in its production, sensory attribute, locality, or any other ingredient that is introduced (Aderinola and Oluwamukomi, 2021). Some of these local beverages may include kunun-gyada having groundnut seed paste, kunun-tsamiya having tamarind fruit pulp, kunun burukuru having fermented cow milk, and kunun-zaki having sugar