Nutrient Dense Dairy Product Diversification and Quality Evaluation

Abstract

There are limited diversified dairy products manufactured in dairy industries, and an increased demand for diversified dairy products in Ethiopia. To this end, there is un-met demand for nutrient rich dairy diversified products. This research was conducted with the aim to perform product development and quality assessment of yogurt with some cereals and legumes with the implication for diversification of nutrient dense yoghurt products in order to explore market potential. Yoghurt enriched with cereals and legumes was investigated for nutritional, microbial, texture and viscosity analyses as well as sensory quality attributes. Yogurts were processed through inoculation of milk with Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophiles. Finger millet yogurt was significantly better in protein and minerals composition. Furthermore, fat and ash values were high in finger millet yogurt: 3.47 and 2.36 g 102g-1; respectively. Common bean (Redwolaita variety) yoghurt had abundant concertation of calcium next to finger millet-yoghurt. The aerobic plate count (2.3x102 cfu ml-1), coliform (<1x101 cfu ml-1), yeasts and mold (<1x101 cfu ml-1) of yoghurt comply with the microbiological standard requirements. Pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli, S.aureus, Shigella spp and B.cereus were absent in all the yogurt samples. The processed yogurt products possessed complementary effect of nutrient enhancement which is driven from cereals and legumes. The product has very good acceptability by panelists and revealed excellent nutritional composition. The processing technology also provided high nutrient dense, acceptable in quality and microbiologically safe products. The results from the proximate, physico-chemical, microbiological, and texture and viscosity analyses indicate that yogurt with cereals and pulses possess good nutritional composition. The processing technology provided microbiologically non-hazardous end products, and the results from the sensory evaluation of revealed that value added products can be a potential dairy product that fit to the lifestyle of consumers and get accepted. These findings further suggest investors currently involved in the dairy sector can produce products that fit into consumers’ lifestyle by pioneering technology transfer of this research output in order to capture the un-met consumer demand for safe, nutritious, affordable and proprietary nutrient dense yogurt production.