STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF ADDITION OF BABASSU MESOCARP FLOUR IN YOGURT PRODUCTION: PHYSICAL-CHEMICAL, MICROBIOLOGICAL AND SENSORY EVALUATION

Yogurt is a functional dairy product popularly known obtained by lactic acid fermentation of milk through of the mutualism effect between Streptococcus thermophiles and Lactobacillus bulgaricus. In the Amazonia region there is a wide variety of fruits with high technological potential. Babassu is a fruit of high nutritional value, however with low level of industrialization representing 30% of the extractive production in Brazil. Therefore, the objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of the added of babassu mesocarp flour (BMF) on physical-chemical, microbiological and sensorial properties of yogurt. Three different concentrations of BMF (i.e. 5, 7.5 and 10%) was incorporated such as substrate for the fermentation of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) during yogurt production. A control batch was prepared without added BMF. LAB growth was monitored until the pH value reached 4.6 of each treatment. The physical-chemical characteristics were determined in terms of moisture content, carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, fibres and ash content while the Hedonic scale and acceptance index (IA) were used for sensorial analysis and the performance of the test submitted ANOVA. The addition of 7.5% of BMF on the yogurt production influenced the fermentation time from 3:30 h to 3:00 h in comparison with the control batch. The maximum population density of LAB at the end of the fermentation was of 108 CFU/mL and 109 CFU/mL for 5 and 10%, and 7.5%, respectively. The average values for moisture, carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, fibres and ash content were of 72, 22.5, 3.31, 1.27, 1.76, and 0.93%, respectively. The IA results calculated for the yogurt batches added with BMF presented potential consumption acceptability, yielding values above 80% for the batch of 7.5% of BMF. The results indicate that the incorporation of BMF may be an alternative for the development of new dairy products from the use of regional ingredients.