The Effect of Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) Essential Oil on Shelf-Life of Yoghurt

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Background and Objective: Microbial contaminations in the food chain remain one of the topmost causes of dairy food spoilages which eventually result in wastage, alarming food insecurities that threaten global peace in addition to a considerable economical loss.Preservative chemicals from synthetic routes are often employed for controlling microbial food spoilage and extending productsʼ shelf-life.Whereas these chemical products used have a lot of side effects on human health.This study aimed to investigate the bio-preservative potential of lemongrass essential oil (EO) on yoghurt.Materials and Methods: Physico-chemical, sensory and microbiological characteristics were studied.Lemongrass EO was extracted via steam distillation.Results: Results of the total bacterial count (TBC) for yoghurt ranged from 117.33±2.31×106 -294.67±2.31×106 , total lactobacillus count (LBC) ranged from 113.33±5.77×106 -240±20.00×106 while at 1.0 and 2.0 µL mLG 1 EO prevented the growth of fungi for up to 7 days.Results show that the sensory acceptability of yoghurt supplemented with lemongrass EO was higher than that of the control yoghurt prepared without EO.The yoghurt sample treated with 2 µL mLG 1 was found to be mostly acceptable (p<0.05).Conclusion: The present findings suggest that the addition of lemongrass essential oil could improve the shelf life of yoghurt for up to 7 days at room temperature.