Abstract

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The effect of fortification of reconstituted skimmed cow milk with baobab fruit milk on the physicochemical, microbial and sensory characteristics of yoghurt was studied. Pasteurized milk was distributed and substituted as follows: 100% cow skimmed milk (control-sample A), 100% baobab milk (sample B), 90% cow milk: 10% baobab milk (sample C), 80% cow milk: 20% baobab milk (sample D) and 70% cow milk: 30% baobab milk (sample E) milk: baobab milk juice . The five (5) samples were inoculated with 5% concentration of starter culture and incubated at 45oC for 18hours. The coagulation obtained after incubation were broken to obtain smooth texture yoghurt. The yoghurts were stored at 6 °C for 21 days (3 weeks) and their quality monitored. Results showed that moisture, fat, protein, viscosity and pH decreased with increase in fortification levels. Moisture content ranged from 80.21% in sample A to 77.15% in sample E, same trend was observed in fat and protein contents. However, the carbohydrate and ash content increased with fortification level. pH ranged from 4.84 in sample A to 4.01 in sample E. Same trend was observed in ascorbic acid content and Titratable acidity. Viscosity decreased from 351.01% in sample A to 227.00% in sample E. Calcium and Sodium decreased with increase in fortification level while Phosphorous and Potassium increased. The sensory evaluation results showed that sample C and sample E were most preferred in terms of appearance (6.4). Sample A (control) had the highest overall acceptability score followed by Sample C. It can be concluded that yoghurt made from milk fortified with baobab fruit milk, is nutritious and safe for consumption.

Keywords: Baobab fruit, Chemical, Microbial quality, Yoghurt