Process of Fortification of Cow Milk Curd with Beta (ß) Carotene Producing Sweet Potato

Abstract

Sweet potato (SP) is the world’s seventh most important tropical food crop after wheat, rice, maize, potato, barley and cassava. Pigments present in sweet potato namely, s-carotene, anthocyanin and unidentified flavonoids are regarded as antioxidants. As SP roots are rich in starch, sugars, minerals, vitamins and dietary fiber, they have high potential for undergoing fermentation into value-added commodities like curd, yogurt, pickles, amongst others. Added s-carotene rich SP provided vitamin A, starch, dietary fiber that functioned as thickener and stabilizer. In the present study, s-carotene rich SP curd was prepared by fermenting (hyphenate these two words) 16 % SP and cow’s milk. The samples were subjected to consumer evaluation that was modeled using logistic regression to identify which sensory attributes determine acceptability of the product. Our results showed that texture and color significantly influence consumer acceptability. Addition of SP enriched curd with dietary fiber and starch improved the firmness of the curd.