Development of a sauce using Gymnema sylvestre leaves

Plant derived products have attracted enormous attention due to their diverse range of biological and therapeutic properties. Gymnema sylvestre is an underutilized medicinal herb, widely distributed in different parts of the world. It is rich in phytochemicals with anti-diabetic and anti-obesity properties. However, the herb is less popular due to its bitter taste. This study was focused to develop a sauce using leaves of G. sylvestre. The most acceptable composition (17.2% water, 4.8% vinegar, 3.2% sweet potato, 2.6% chili, 2.0% sugar, 2.0% cinnamon, 2.0% cardamom, 1.8% ginger, 1.8% garlic, 1.2% onion, 1.2% salt, 0.1% citric acid and 0.1% sodium benzoate) of the sauce was with 60% leaf extract. The final product contained 73.54% ± 1.68 moisture, 19.92% ± 2.59 carbohydrates, 2.98% ± 0.44 ash, 2.61% ± 0.58 protein, 0.88% ± 0.05 fiber and 0.05% ± 0.01 fat. The total flavonoid content of the product was 243.67 ± 8.57 μ moles of rutin equivalent and the total phenolic content was 65.44 ±0.51 μ moles of gallic acid equivalent. Inhibition of DPPH % of the total antioxidant capacity was 43.70 ± 0.72. Sauce formulated with 1000 ppm sodium benzoate showed six weeks of shelf life. The results revealed that development of a sauce from G. sylvestre leaves is an effective way of delivering its health benefits to the potential consumers.