Effects of Blanching Khi Lek (Cassia siamea Lamk) Flowers in Brine on Qualities of Khi Lek Flower Tea

This research aims to study the effects of blanching Khi Lek (Cassia siamea Lamk) flowers in brine in order to improve the qualities of Khi Lek flower tea production. The study comprised two factors: (1) two-time intervals for blanching: 3 and 5 minutes; (2) two concentrations of brine: 1% and 3% (w/v) and a control using Khi Lek flowers without blanching. The findings of the study stated as follows: blanching with different concentrations of boiling brine contributed to significantly different qualities of outcomed tea products in the aspects of moisture content aw color turbidity ascorbic acid content antioxidant activity and the observed sensory evaluation as compared to the control without blanching. Moreover the optimum blanching conditions consisted of blanching with boiling 1% brine for 5 minutes to obtain the best qualities of Khi Lek flowers tea product.