Impact of honey on quality characteristics of goat yogurt containing probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the influence of adding stingless bee honey (produced by Melipona scutellaris Latrelle - uruçu) on the technological, physicochemical and sensory characteristics of goat yogurt containing probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus La-05 during 28 days of refrigerated storage. Four formulations of goat yogurt were prepared, each varying in the added stingless bee honey amount [(0%, 5%, 10% and 15% (v/v)], but all inoculated with the probiotic L. acidophilus La-05 (0.1 g/L of goat milk). The incorporation of stingless bee honey positively affected several characteristics in goat yogurt containing L. acidophilus La-05, namely the color, syneresis, viscosity, sensory acceptance and purchase intention. All yogurt formulations presented counts of L. acidophilus La-05 above 6.0 log cfu/g by 28 days of storage, but the presence of honey increased the counts (ca. 1 log cfu/g) of L. acidophilus La-05 and yogurt starter bacteria until 21 days of storage. The results of this study presented a successful incorporation of both the probiotic L. acidophilus La-05 and the honey produced by a native Brazilian stingless bee as ingredients of a new goat dairy product with satisfactory nutritional and sensory quality and added market value because of its potential functional properties.