• Exploration of antioxidant and hypoglycemic activity of black cumin seed oil • Formulation of yogurt incorporating microencapsulated black cumin seed oil • Back cumin seed bioactives enhance consumer acceptability of the yogurt • Novel and accessible dietary modification for managing hyperglycemia The increasing prevalence of diabetes is a major public health concern globally. The incorporation of herbal oils enriched with bioactive compounds in microencapsulated matrices is an emerging strategy to manage the prevalence of diabetes and oxidative stress in human beings. This study aims to develop and evaluate a functional low-fat yogurt enriched with black cumin seed oil emulsions to manage hyperglycemia and oxidative stress. The antioxidant potential and phenolic contents of black cumin oil at different concentrations (0.25%, 0.5%, and 1% (w/w)) were determined through DPPH assay and Folin Ciocalteu (FC) assay, while the hypoglycemic potential was determined using α-amylase inhibition assay. Based on the sensory evaluation results of all the prepared O/W emulsions, the most chosen concentration (0.25% w/w) was used to formulate hypoglycemic yogurt. Prepared yogurt treatment was analyzed using DPPH assay, FC assay, α-amylase inhibition activity, titratable acidity (TA), syneresis, texture, and color over a storage period of 5 days. The results reported that the O/W emulsions containing 0.25% (w/w) black cumin oil remained stable at 4°C without significantly changing the average droplet diameter, while the O/W emulsions showed concentration-dependent phenolic content (58.75–73.49 mg GAE/100 g) and DPPH antioxidant activity (16.7–39.09%) with a significant decrease during 7 days of storage ( p < 0.05). Fortified yogurt with black cumin seed oil showed concentration-dependent TPC (46.93–67.02 mg GAE/100 g) and α-amylase inhibition (41.5–70.79%), both gradually decreasing over 5–7 days of storage. Overall results concluded that the yogurt formulated with O/W emulsions with 0.25% black cumin oil exhibited significant ( p < 0.05) antioxidant and hypoglycemic activity at varying concentrations. The syneresis and color of yogurt with 0.25% (w/w) black cumin oil changed significantly ( p < 0.05) on days 1, 3, and 5 while preserving the overall textural attributes of the yogurt.
Khan et al. (Sun,) studied this question.