Assessment of technological characteristics of non-fat yoghurt manufactured with prebiotics and probiotic strains.

Microbiological, physicochemical, aroma and organic acid characteristics of non-fat yoghurt incorporated with β-glucan and probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum strains (AB6-25, AC18-82 and AK4-11) combination as adjunct culture were investigated during a 21 day storage period at 4 °C. Four treatment yoghurts contained 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 % β-glucan. Treatments also included probiotic combination and commercial culture. Treatments were compared with three controls produced containing commercial culture, commercial culture and probiotic combination, and commercial culture, Lactobacillus acidophilus and inulin. The results indicated that β-glucan promote the viability of lactobacilli. However, the addition of β-glucan (except 0.25 %) resulted in enhanced syneresis (P < 0.05). In general, the use of 0.25 % β-glucan had no significant effect on pH, fat, protein and organic acid content of non-fat yoghurt. The results obtained from this research demonstrated that the use of 0.25 % β-glucan has no adverse effect on the characteristics of non-fat yogurt produced with probiotic combination.