Hulled Roasted Barley Drink as an Alternative to Coffee: Sensory Evaluation, Chemical Composition and Caffeine Content, Antioxidant Activity and Economic Evaluation

In this research, the chemical composition, caffeine content, antioxidant activity, and sensory and economic evaluations of hulled roasted barley grains as an alternative coffee drink, were studied. Hulled barley grain variety Giza 134 was cleaning and roasting at about 200 °C for 35,45 and 55 minutes and compared to a sample of Brazilian coffee. The sensory evaluation results, of roasted barley coffee drink at a temperature of 200 °C for a period of 35,45 and 55 minutes, and compared to the Brazilian coffee drink, showed that roasted barley coffee drink at 200 °C for 55 minutes received the highest scores compared to both roasted barley coffee drink at 200°C for 45 and 35 minutes, and was very near to Brazilian coffee drink. Also, color evaluation was performed for each sample of roasted barley and that of the Brazilian coffee sample. The percentages of protein, fat and ash in hulled roasted barley grains were lower than that of the Brazilian coffee, as these percentages reached 13.20%, 3.84%, and 3.33% in hulled roasted barley grains, while those percentages in Brazilian coffee reached 17.54%, 18.23% and 4.31%, respectively. The moisture, total carbohydrate and starch contents of hulled roasted barley grains were higher than those found in Brazilian coffee. The percentage of crude and dietary fiber decreased in roasted barley grains compared to that in Brazilian coffee, Also, total phenols and antioxidant activity decreased in hulled roasted barley grains compared to Brazilian coffee, reaching 166.22 mg gallic acid/100g and 52.18% in hulled roasted barley grains, while they reached to 1577 mg gallic acid/100g and 90.20% in the Brazilian coffee. The caffeine content of hulled roasted barley grains was zero per cent, while its percentage in Brazilian coffee was 0.87%. The results showed that the mineral contents (magnesium, calcium, iron, potassium and sodium) were higher in the Brazilian coffee (160.67, 57.30, 21.30, 2200 and 93.33 mg / 100 g) compared to hulled roasted barley grains (149.69, 32.97, 15.03, 700 and 76.67 mg / 100 g), respectively. On the other hand, the global production of coffee is about 6 million tons, produced in 9 countries, and Egypt imports about 137 thousand tons, representing about 2.30% of that production, with a cash value estimated at 2.10 billion pounds. It can be provided through a barley coffee drink, with complete replacement, while it can be reduced to about 1.04 billion pounds in the case of 50% replacement, and about 0.50 billion pounds in the case of 25% replacement only. So, consuming barley coffee instead of natural coffee beans in different proportions can lead to the provision of hard currency.