ABSTRACT The increasing demand for plant‐based foods has intensified research in alternative protein sources. This study assessed the chemical composition, functional properties, and biological qualities of velvet bean (VB) and African yam bean (AYB) flours to determine their suitability as plant protein sources. VB had a higher protein content (26.31 g/100 g) than AYB (21.85 g/100 g), while no significant difference ( p > 0.05) was observed in fat content (9.16–10.66 g/100 g). Functional properties varied, with VB showing greater foaming and oil holding capacity, while AYB recorded higher solubility (31.04%) than VB (20.76%) at neutral pH. VB displayed higher yellowness (26.83) than AYB (12.90), but had lower brightness than AYB. Antinutritional factors such as phytate (0.19%–0.39%), oxalate (0.38–0.99 mg/100 g), and tannins (4.27%–12.93%) were higher in VB. In vitro protein digestibility ranged from 76.77% to 78.43%, significantly higher in AYB ( p < 0.05). SDS‐PAGE revealed variations in protein bands at ~17, 25, 35, 48, 63, and 75 kDa under reducing conditions. The essential amino acids profile of both plants compared favorably with the FAO/WHO reference pattern. Both plants had comparable total essential amino acid content (VB: 35.63%, AYB: 38.58%) and PDCAAS values of 51.81% (VB) and 44.57% (AYB). Overall, VB and AYB sources show promise as sustainable soybean alternatives, with notable strengths in protein quality and functional properties for plant‐based food applications.

This study investigated the effects of alkaline pretreatment and drying methods on the physicochemical properties of Gelidium amansii and the quality of the resulting agar jelly. Seaweeds with or without alkaline pretreatment were subjected to either sun-drying or shortwave infrared (SWIR) lamp-drying for three or seven cycles to evaluate whether SWIR drying could replace conventional sun-drying by reducing drying time and whether alkaline pretreatment could enhance gel hardness. The results showed that both drying methods effectively reduced moisture content, while the alkaline pretreatment significantly increased the ash content, likely due to the removal of water-soluble components. Marked color improvement was observed after seven cycles of sun-drying or following alkaline pretreatment, with the appearance changing from purplish red to bright golden yellow, which is closer to traditional quality expectations. Although SWIR lamp-drying was more energy-efficient, it resulted in limited color improvement. Volatile compound analysis revealed that deviations from the fresh control increased with the number of sun-drying cycles, whereas alkaline pretreatment and infrared-drying induced more pronounced changes in volatile profiles. Among all of the treatments, Gelidium subjected to seven sun-drying cycles produced jellies with the most favorable texture, indicating enhanced agar gel formation through repeated washing and drying. In contrast, the combination of alkaline pretreatment and infrared-drying restricted agar extraction, likely due to tissue hardening and insufficient light intensity, resulting in weak or negligible gel formation. Overall, both the drying method and alkaline pretreatment significantly influenced the Gelidium quality and agar gel properties; despite being labor-intensive, traditional washing and sun-drying processes remain critical for achieving desirable product quality.

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important measure of disease status and represents a holistic approach to delivering patient-centered care. We conducted a scoping review of HRQoL patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and evaluated their psychometric properties. Randomized trials and observational studies that developed and validated HRQoL PROMs for adults with ischaemic heart disease (IHD), aortic stenosis (AS), atrial fibrillation (AF), heart failure (HF), or generic CVD were included, published from inception of databases to 8 February 2025 using PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase. Independent reviewers selected and extracted the psychometric properties of each PROM in accordance with the Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) checklist: content validity, reliability, internal consistency, structural validity, criterion/convergent, cross-cultural validity, measurement error, hypothesis testing, and responsiveness. Each PROM was graded using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach. Of 9430 articles, 220 studies for 38 different PROMs were included (HF n = 17, 45%; AF n = 11, 29%; IHD n = 7, 18%; generic n = 2, 5%; AS n = 1, 3%). Eleven PROMs (29%) satisfied all nine COSMIN criteria; the majority (n = 19, 50%) required further validation and eight were deemed inadequate for clinical use (21%). This scoping review of HRQoL PROMs in individuals with common CVDs found evidence that many PROMs do not fulfill all nine COSMIN criteria for methodological quality, and for some CVDs there is a limited choice of suitable PROMs for HRQoL measurement. There is an opportunity to improve HRQoL evaluation for use within routine care and research.

Aluminum (Al) has attracted considerable attention for uses in photonic, electronic, and quantum devices. Its grain architecture governs surface roughness, electron and light scattering, and quantum decoherence, all of which critically affect device performance. Enhancing crystalline domain size and refining granularity control remain an ongoing research focus for producing ultraclean nanofilms. This study investigates the crystallinity of epitaxial Al grown on miscut GaAs substrates and examines its influence on Al superconductivity. The introduction of a substrate miscut alters Al growth kinetics, enabling the formation of twinned grains, polycrystalline structures, and micrometer-scale single crystal. Variations in grain architecture result in approximately 10%, 100%, and 1000% modulation of the superconducting critical temperature, current, and magnetic field, respectively, while maintaining constant channel geometries. Reducing macroscopic grain boundaries decreases the Al nanofilm resistivity but enhances strain-induced crystallinity deterioration, driving a transition from type-I to type-II-like superconducting behavior. We suggest that preparing Al nanofilms, which approach an ultraclean limit in terms of surface quality, crystallinity, and transport properties, requires careful control of substrate miscut as well as the grain architecture. These findings highlight a tunable approach to controlling Al granularity and superconductivity via miscut, lattice-mismatched substrates.

Edible insects are gaining popularity as an alternative food source, highlighting the urgent need for research on their incorporation into traditional food products. This study investigated the impact of incorporating mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) powder (MP) at 2%, 5%, and 10% levels on the nutritional, functional, and sensory properties of pasta. Proximate composition, mineral content, color parameters, cooking quality, antioxidant activity and sensory properties were evaluated. Starch digestibility fractions and predicted glycemic index (pGI) were calculated based on in vitro enzymatic hydrolysis. Results showed that 10% MP addition significantly increased protein (1.45-fold) and fat content (12-fold), enriched minerals (Fe, Zn, Mg, K), and improved antioxidant capacity (ABTS+·: 1.3-fold; DPPH·: 2.6-fold) and phenolic content (14.4-fold) compared to control. Color analysis revealed a decrease in lightness and an increase in redness, indicating darker tones with higher MP levels. This supplementation reduced rapidly digestible starch and pGI while increasing slowly digestible starch, suggesting benefits for glycemic control. Sensory evaluation revealed no significant differences (p > 0.05) among samples for appearance, color, taste, and overall impression, confirming good acceptability. Overall, MP fortification improved nutritional and functional properties without compromising sensory quality, supporting its application in developing high-protein, health-oriented foods.

In response to growing consumer interest in plant-based and eco-friendly diets, the food industry is seeking to enrich bakery products with functional plant proteins, which are highly nutritious and environmentally beneficial. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of incorporating pea protein isolate (PPI) and rice protein isolate (RPI) at levels of 5% and 15% on the structural and sensory quality and nutritional properties of vegan cookies. The addition of plant-derived proteins significantly influenced the colour and texture of the cookies. The addition of PPI increased lightness (L* up to 70.05 at 5%), whereas the addition of RPI caused pronounced browning (BI = 100.00 at 15%) and structural hardening at higher inclusion levels. Protein content increased with enrichment, reaching 9.49 g/100 g in the P15% sample (a 95.7% increase compared to the control sample). Total phenolic content increased markedly, particularly in the P15% sample, rising by 144%. However, this was not accompanied by a proportional increase in antioxidant activity, as determined by ABTS and DPPH assays. Sensory evaluation revealed that cookies enriched with 5% protein maintained high consumer acceptability (overall scores > 7.0), whereas higher levels of protein incorporation led to a significant reduction in sensory quality. The results indicate a trade-off between nutritional enhancement and sensory acceptability in vegan cookies enriched with pea and rice protein isolates, with 5% incorporation providing the most balanced outcome within the studied formulations.

Abstract In response to the low detection accuracy and limited adaptability of algorithms caused by significant differences in target characteristics in multi-source dynamic target detection tasks for coal mine conveyors, this paper proposes a Lite-DSP-YOLO-P2 lightweight intelligent detection algorithm. Firstly, considering the differences in image quality and target properties between coal flow states and personnel unsafety scenarios, a differentiated data augmentation strategy is adopted. For personnel unsafety images, a combination of classical augmentation and GridMask is employed to enhance the detection of occluded targets. For coal flow images, an improved DeblurGAN-v2 is used for deblurring prior to classical augmentation, thereby improving structural clarity and detection accuracy. Secondly, to enhance the algorithm's perception of small targets and complex backgrounds, a P2 detection layer is constructed based on the Dynamic Multi-scale Fusion and Triple Feature Encoder (DyMsF-TFE), which integrates shallow and deep features to improve multi-scale representation capability. Meanwhile, a Lightweight Shared Detail Enhanced-convolutional Detection Head (LSDEcDH) is designed, incorporating Group Normalization (GN) and Detail-enhanced Convolution (DeC) to reduce parameters while improving localization accuracy. Finally, the Layer-Adaptive Magnitude-based Pruning (LAMP) method is applied to compress the model structure, achieving a better balance between detection performance and computational complexity, thus enhancing its applicability and efficiency in resource-constrained environments. Experimental results show the differentiated data augmentation strategy significantly improves the quality and diversity of training samples, and enhances the algorithm's perception and detection performance for multi-source dynamic targets in complex scenarios. The proposed Lite-DSP-YOLO-P2 achieves a precision of 95.2%, recall of 90.9%, mAP0.5 of 95.1%, and mAP0.5:0.95 of 67.0%, which represents improvements of 3.5%, 1.1%, 2.7%, and 1.5%, respectively, compared to the YOLOv8n baseline. Furthermore, the algorithm's parameters are reduced by 24.6%, and after applying LAMP pruning, both the parameters and model size are reduced by 51.9% and 39.7%, respectively, while maintaining detection accuracy.

The increasing demand for healthier and more sustainable foods has driven the reformulation of bakery products using alternative ingredients. Sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis L.), an Amazonian oilseed rich in proteins, unsaturated fatty acids, and bioactive compounds, represents a promising resource to enhance the nutritional and functional quality of baked goods while valorizing agro-industrial by-products. This study investigated the effects of partially or totally replacing wheat flour and sunflower oil with defatted Sacha inchi oilcake flour and Sacha inchi oil on the nutritional, physicochemical, and functional properties of cookies. Nine formulations were developed, including a control and eight experimental variants. Proximate composition, mineral content, lipid profile, total polyphenols, antioxidant activity (FRAP and DPPH assays), texture, geometry, and color parameters were evaluated. Cookies containing Sacha inchi flour showed significant increases in protein (up to 19.65%), fat, fiber (6-fold higher), ash, and energy, with a reduction in carbohydrates. Mineral content increased markedly for calcium (10.8-fold), magnesium (10.2-fold), potassium (3-fold), phosphorus (5.4-fold), and zinc (4.6-fold), while iron decreased by 25%. Lipid profiling revealed a higher proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly α-linolenic acid (omega-3), and lower saturated fats in cookies containing Sacha inchi oil. The incorporation of Sacha inchi ingredients also increased total polyphenols (up to 1.46-fold) and antioxidant activity (up to 1.99-fold). Texture analysis showed that Sacha inchi flour reduced hardness (up to 5.8 times softer than control), whereas Sacha inchi oil increased firmness (up to 2.4 times). Full replacement of sunflower oil increased cookie diameter and spread ratio, while Sacha inchi flour reduced diameter and increased thickness. Color parameters were also affected, reflecting compositional and Maillard-related changes during baking. Replacing wheat flour and sunflower oil with Sacha inchi flour and oil enhanced the nutritional profile, fatty acid composition, and antioxidant capacity of cookies, while modulating their texture and geometry. These findings demonstrate the technological feasibility of using Sacha inchi derivatives as functional ingredients in bakery products, supporting the development of sustainable, health-oriented foods and promoting the valorization of Amazonian crops and by-products.

Nitrogenous fertilizer (N fertilizer) is crucial to the quality of mulberry leaves. This study evaluated the influences of 4 N fertilizers on the chemical properties of paddy soil, mulberry growth, leaf quality and Cd distribution in mulberry. The results showed the soil pH was reduced with the increasing concentrations of NH4Cl and (NH4)2SO4. The soil pH for NH4Cl and (NH4)2SO4 treatments were 4.60 and 4.62 at 300 mg N/kg soil, 21.10% and 20.75% lower than that of the control, respectively. CO(NH2)2 increased soil organic matter (OM) and the 4 N fertilizers all increased the Cd phytoavailability with (NH4)2SO4>NH4Cl > CO(NH2)2>NaNO3. (NH4)2SO4 and CO(NH2)2 improved leaf production, total mulberry biomass and the total sugar in leaf. CO(NH2)2, NH4Cl and NaNO3 increased the crude protein content and (NH4)2SO4 increased the chlorophyll content (8.10%∼20.20%). (NH4)2SO4 and NH4Cl increased the Cd concentration in leaf, stem and root. CO(NH2)2 increased Cd concentration in leaf and stem. All 4 N fertilizers decreased the percentage content of Cd in roots (1.80%∼37.74%) and increased it in stems (3.90%∼263.81%) and leaves (24.09%∼236.18%). The leaves from the CO(NH2)2 and NaNO3 treatments met the hygienical standard for feeds. CO(NH2)2 and NaNO3 could be recommended to safely utilize the Cd polluted acidic paddy soils.

Impact of pitaya peel powder particle size on bread quality and functional properties: a sustainable strategy for agro-industrial waste upcycling.

To enhance the forming quality of wood-plastic composite (WPC) models manufactured by fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printing, particularly in terms of surface quality and mechanical properties, this study analysed the 3D printing process parameters (layer height, extrusion ratio, and printing speed) for WPC filaments. Through surface roughness and tensile property tests, the optimal combination of process parameters for achieving the best forming quality was determined. Based on the optimized parameters, FFF technology and WPC filament were applied to practice 3D printing of wooden crafts. Experimental results showed that as the layer height decreases, extrusion ratio increases, and printing speed decreases, both the arithmetic average roughness (Ra) and average maximum height (Rz) of the WPC models decreased, leading to a significant improvement in surface quality. Concurrently, the mechanical properties of the WPC models were enhanced due to the increase in ultimate strength and elongation at break. Under the process conditions of 0.1 mm layer height, 110% extrusion ratio, and 20 mm/s printing speed, the printed wooden bowl and spoon exhibited excellent surface quality and favorable mechanical properties, providing a valuable reference for the application of 3D printing in the rapid fabrication of wooden crafts.

Are the Hip Disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score and Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score Measures Validated for Common Non-English Languages and Associated Cultures in the United States? A Systematic Review.

ABSTRACTThis study investigated the effects of postmortem aging on the nutritional quality and physicochemical properties of myofibrillar proteins (MFP) in Bactrian camel meat. In this study, hindlimb meat from five Bactrian camels was aged at 4°C and sampled on D0, D1, D3, D5, and D7. Samples were analyzed for proximate composition, amino acid profiles, and the functional and structural properties of MFPs. During aging, the moisture content decreased from 75.86% (D0) to 73.60% (D3) before partially recovering to 74.54% (D7), while protein (≈21.7%), crude fat (≈1.1%), and ash (≈0.86%) remained stable. Total amino acids (TAA) and essential amino acids (EAA) increased significantly, with TAA rising from 20.32 to 22.53 g/100 g and EAA from 9.17 to 9.92 g/100 g (P < 0.05). The EAA/TAA ratio consistently exceeded FAO/WHO recommendations, with lysine showing the highest amino acid score (≈1.6 times the reference value). MFP solubility increased from 25.66% to 76.21%, accompanied by improved emulsifying activity, but gel water‐holding capacity and foaming stability declined. SDS‐PAGE revealed a 30 kDa troponin‐T (TnT) degradation product from D3, while Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) indicated a structural shift from α‐helices (18.21% to 11.56%) to random coils (+5.64%). These results suggest that 3–5 days of aging may optimize both nutritional value and functional properties, providing a practical reference for camel meat processing. The findings are specific to the hindlimb muscle, and further research on different muscles is warranted.

Antimony (Sb) contamination threatens food security by lowering crop yields, reducing nutritional quality, and harming agroecosystems, underscoring the need for sustainable and eco-friendly strategies to alleviate heavy metal stress. Here arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) role to mitigate Sb-induced stress in maize, was examined. AMF-inoculated and non-inoculated plants were grown under control and Sb stress conditions for 10 weeks, and growth, nutrient uptake, metabolic profiles, antioxidant capacity, and antimicrobial activity were assessed. Sb exposure markedly suppressed maize performance, reducing fresh and dry biomass by 66% and 65%, respectively, while also impairing the growth-promoting effects commonly associated with AMF. However, AMF inoculation significantly alleviated Sb toxicity, enhancing fresh biomass by 43% and dry biomass by 40%. The recovery was linked to improved nutrient uptake and the accumulation of primary metabolites, which promoted physiological adjustments. Moreover, AMF-inoculated plants under Sb stress showed enriched bioactive metabolites, leading to stronger antimicrobial activity and a 65% increase in antioxidant capacity. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that AMF enhance maize resilience to Sb stress by promoting growth, nutritional quality, and bioactive properties. This study demonstrates that AMF offer a sustainable strategy to enhance crop resilience and biofortification in contaminated environments.

Purpose In recent years, 3D printing technologies have grown significantly due to their versatility in producing components with complex geometries. In line with this trend, polylactic acid (PLA) has emerged as a highly applicable material due to its biocompatibility and biodegradability, along with adequate mechanical strength, making it suitable for the development of fastening and load-bearing components. However, the fabrication of such mechanical parts requires the consideration of multiple factors that ultimately influence both surface quality and mechanical properties of the final products. Design/methodology/approach In this study, a Design of Experiments (DOE) approach is implemented to vary the most critical parameters of the Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) process, namely, nozzle diameter (ND), layer height (LH), extrusion temperature (TE), printing speed (PS) and extrusion multiplier (EM). Standardized specimens were used to measure the response variables. Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) models were developed to predict surface roughness, density and tensile strength, consistently outperforming regression models across all error metrics. A multi-objective optimization (MOO) based on particle swarm optimization was then applied to determine optimal processing conditions for PLA screw prototypes, which were subsequently manufactured (single- and double-thread) and validated through tensile and pull-out tests. Findings From the results, when all response variables had the same weight in the trade-off, the optimization indicated that the optimal parameter values within the selected range were ND = 0.25 mm, TE = 210 ºC, EM = 90%, LH = 0.1 mm and PS = 30 mm/s, achieving in the experimental validation a surface roughness (Ra) of 6.38 µm, a density of 1.2277 g/cm³ and an ultimate tensile strength of 63.20 MPa. Originality/value By combining ANFIS modeling with particle swarm-based MOO, this study provides a systematic strategy to identify optimal FFF processing parameters for PLA components. The integrated approach of modeling, optimization and experimental validation and experimental validation on PLA screw prototypes establishes a robust pathway for designing high-performance screws outperforming regression models. These findings underline the critical role of parameter tuning, where the optimization allows for trade-offs between mechanical performance and surface quality, which is very important in balancing strength, density and surface roughness, particularly in applications where multi-criteria optimization is essential.

Acorn bee pollen is a highly nutritious natural food, but information regarding its quality properties is currently lacking. Therefore, in this study, acorn bee pollens were collected from five regions of South Korea, and then acorn bee pollen extracts (ABPe) were prepared, and their quality properties, as well as their components, were analyzed. For the analysis related to the ABPe’s antioxidant activity, the 2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical, and nitrite scavenging activities of JNe (sample from Jeonnam) were at 72.7%, 66.8%, and 60.0%, respectively, which were significantly higher than their respective averages of 69.7%, 56.7%, and 55.3% for the other four samples. Moreover, the inhibition activities of JNe on tyrosinase, α-glucosidase, and α-amylase were 72.5%, 92.6%, and 72.4%, respectively, which were significantly higher than their respective averages of 62.7%, 70.9%, and 61.5% for the other four samples. When considering the ABPe components, the total flavonoid content of JNe was 8.4 mg QE/g, which is higher than the average of 4.6 mg QE/g for the other four samples, and exhibited the highest correlation with the quality properties of acorn bee pollen. Furthermore, among the quercetin glycosides in JNe, rutin revealed a higher correlation with the quality properties than the other flavonoids. Therefore, total flavonoid and rutin content are closely associated with the antioxidant activity and enzyme inhibition of the ABPe. In conclusion, these results are expected to be used for evaluating the quality properties of acorn bee pollen as a healthy functional food ingredient or a natural food additive.

Bee pollen is commonly consumed as a natural dietary supplement due to its rich nutritional content and bioactive components. However, consuming it directly without any processing steps can pose a potential risk to public health concerning microbiological safety. This study aimed to assess the microbiological quality and certain physicochemical properties of bee pollen available for sale in the Şanlıurfa region. In this context, a total of 12 different bee pollen samples were analyzed, collected from local herbalists and apiculture product sales outlets. In the physicochemical analyses, pH, moisture, and color (CIE Lab*) values were determined using standard analytical methods. For the microbiological analyses, counts were conducted for total mesophilic aerobic bacteria (TMAB), coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli, Enterobacteriaceae, yeast, and mold. Additionally, analyses were performed to detect the presence of E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus. The pH, moisture, and color (CIE Lab*) values were found to be 4.24–5.33 (average 4.91 ± 0.29), 9.87–24.66% (average 14.18 ± 4.40), and L* 23.30 ± 4.27, a* 10.81 ± 3.30, b* 27.43 ± 7.44, respectively. In the microbiological analyses, total mesophilic aerobic bacteria (TMAB) counts ranged from 4.38 to 5.28 log CFU/g, yeast–mold counts from 2.34 to 3.92 log CFU/g, coliform bacteria from 1.97 to 3.27 log CFU/g, and Enterobacteriaceae from 1.73 to 4.23 log CFU/g. E. coli, S. aureus, Salmonella spp., L. monocytogenes, and E. coli O157:H7 were not detected in any of the samples. These results indicate that bee pollen is safe in terms of pathogens, but mold development in some samples may pose a mycotoxin risk. In conclusion, it was determined that bee pollen sold in the Şanlıurfa region is generally of suitable quality but requires attention regarding microbiological safety. To consider bee pollen a safe functional food, it is necessary to improve hygiene conditions during production and storage processes and to establish microbiological quality standards.

Additive manufacturing (AM) has emerged as a transformative production technology, enabling the fabrication of complex geometries and customized components, particularly in industries such as aerospace, defense, biomedical, automotive, and energy. The design flexibility offered by AM provides significant advantages, especially in producing intricate structures that are difficult to achieve using conventional manufacturing methods. Among AM-compatible materials, AlSi10Mg alloy stands out due to its high specific strength, excellent thermal and electrical conductivity, and low density. However, the layer-by-layer nature of Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) often results in poor surface quality and insufficient mechanical properties. Therefore, post-processing methods are essential to enhance the surface integrity of AM-produced parts. In this study, the cold spraying (CS) process was applied to improve the surface properties of AlSi10Mg samples manufactured by the L-PBF technique. The samples 100x50x5 mm3 in dimensions were fabricated using Aconity MIDI L-PBF machine and characterized using optical microscopy and a non-contact profilometer. Subsequently, Ti6Al4V powders (15–53 µm in diameter) were deposited onto the samples using a cold spray system under the following process parameters: air temperature of 460 °C, air pressure of 7 bar, powder feed rate of 24.9 g/min, and nozzle distance of 5 mm. The spraying process was performed at three different traverse speeds (10, 20, and 30 mm/s) to examine the influence on surface roughness. In the continuation of the study, post-spray surface measurements were taken and compared with the measurements obtained in AM part production.

Ayran, a popular fermented dairy product in Türkiye, the Balkans and the Middle East, is commonly made by incorporating salt and water into yoghurt. Viscosity and rheological properties are key in determining the quality properties of ayran drinks. This study is aimed to determine the effect of the most available culture (whether exopolysaccharide (EPS)-producing or not), which is globally marketed, on ayran rheology, viscosity, microstructure, and sensory properties. Four ayran treatments were produced as follows: T1 (ayran made using classic yoghurt culture, Streptococcus thermophilus and L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus); T2: ayran made using ABT-5 culture (L. acidophilus, Bifidobacterium bifidum and S. thermophilus); T3: ayran manufactured by EPS-producing culture (L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus); and T4: ayran made using EPS-producing culture + Bifidobacterium Animalis subsp. lactis BB12. Ayran samples were analyzed for rheology, viscosity, microstructure, serum separation, and sensory properties. Unlike T2 and T1, the ayran sample T4 recorded the highest viscosity, the lowest flow behaviour, and the lowest serum separation. Sensory analysis indicated that all ayran samples were found acceptable by the panellists, and T3 followed by T4 gained the highest scores over the cold storage period. Therefore, using EPS-producing strains could be a successful and promising strategy to produce ayran with enhanced quality attributes.

The aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of the addition of inulin to yoghurt produced with fat-free milk on the viability of bacteria (Lactobacillus acidophilus), sensory quality, and physical properties. Inulin was added at four different percentages to yoghurts (0%; IN0, 4%; IN4, 8%; IN8, and 12%; IN12). Yoghurts were produced with fat-free milk, inulin and starter cultures containing Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp bulgaricus, Bifidobacterium lactis and Streptococcus thermophilus. Viscosity, pH, bacterial counting (Lactobacillus acidophilus) and sensory evaluation were performed. Also, the sensory evaluation was performed as single-blind in terms of appearance, flavor, smell, color, creaminess, texture and consistency with 20 trained panelists. The addition of inulin increased the viscosity (p