Development and Performance Evaluation of Synbiotic Red Banana Yoghurt

Aims: The present study aimed at the production of yoghurt with different levels of red banana pulp (5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, 15%) Study Design: Development of red banana pulp incorporated probiotic yoghurt and its performance evaluation. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Dairy Microbiology, Dairy Science College, Hebbal, Bengaluru, Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University, Bidar, Karnataka, India. Between June 2022 and March 2023. Methodology: The red banana pulp incorporated probiotic yoghurt was developed and subjected to sensory analysis by the panel of judges using 9-point hedonic scale, analyzed for milk set time, acidity and viability and the best combination was selected. Results: The 10% concentration of red banana pulp was selected which showed 2.3 h of milk set time, acidity of 0.74% LA, viable log count/g was 9.50 and overall acceptability score was 8.25. The contaminants like coliforms and yeast and molds were absent. The 10% concentration showed no significant difference (P =.05) with the control sample in milk set time and acidity, while significant difference was observed in viability among the different concentrations. The samples were analyzed for synerisis which was 9.30%, water activity was 0.939, viscosity was 6.08cP and color intensity L* was 80.17, a* was -0.85 and b* was 8.68, for the developed red banana pulp incorporated probiotic yoghurt. Conclusion: The developed product improves the acceptability and provides benefits of both probiotics and red banana for the consumers.