Biochemical and sensory evaluations of Turkish delight (lokum) enriched with black grape and sour cherry syrups

Black grape and sour cherry are high in phenolic substances and anthocyanin compounds, which are important for human health. Adding black grape and sour cherry fruit syrups into Turkish delight (lokum) could make the product healthier. While the highest antioxidant activity (AA) was found in the products produced with 7.5% black grape syrup (BGS) and sour cherry fruit syrup (SCS), the lowest AA was obtained from the control sample. The AA values of Turkish delight produced with BGS and SCS increased with the increased fruit concentration. Turkish delight produced with SCS had about twice as much AA than that produced with BGS. The sensory panelists’ scores showed that all the treatments were acceptable in terms of appearance, color, and aroma, but the products produced with 2.5% were evaluated as the best. In terms of overall acceptability, the 2.5% and 5.0% fruit concentrate Turkish delight samples produced approximately the same results.