Food Products with High Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities and Their Sensory Appreciation

(1) Background: The demand for healthy and nutritious food is growing worldwide. Fermented dairy products are highly valued by consumers for their health benefits. Kefir is a fermented dairy product that brings many benefits to the consumer due to its antioxidant, anticancer, antidiabetic, antihypertensive and antimicrobial properties. Extracts from various plants in the form of volatile oils have a beneficial efct on consumer health. their antioxidant and antimicrobial activities were demonstrated. (2) Methods: In the present study, the main purpose was to obtain a fermented dairy product with a high nutritional value; therefore, kefir, enriched with three types of volatile oils, namely, volatile mint oil, volatile fennel oil and volatile lavender oil, was made. The kefir samples obtained were sensory and texturally analyzed. The beneficial effect on health must also be studied in terms of the acceptability of these products by consumers from a sensory point of view. A non-numerical method based on several multi-personal approval criteria was used to interpret the results obtained in the sensory analysis. In the textural analysis, the consistency, cohesiveness and firmness of the kefir samples were analyzed. (3) Results: The samples enriched with volatile oils obtained superior results compared to the control sample in both conducted examinations. Kefir samples with volatile oils retained their sensory and textural characteristics for a longer time during storage. (4) Conclusions: The volatile oils added to kefir positively influenced the sensory and textural characteristics of the finished product.

The Bacterial Diversity of Spontaneously Fermented Dairy Products Collected in Northeast Asia

Spontaneously fermented dairy products have a long history, and present diverse microorganisms and unique flavors. To provide insight into the bacterial diversity, 80 different types of spontaneously fermented dairy product samples’ sequence data that were downloaded from MG-RAST and NCBI and 8 koumiss and 4 shubat were sequenced by the PacBio SMRT sequencing platform. All samples including butter, sour cream, cottage cheese, yogurt, koumiss, shubat, and cheese, were collected from various regions in Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Inner Mongolia (China). The results revealed that Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were the most dominant phyla (>99%), and 11 species were identified with a relative abundance exceeding 1%. Furthermore, Streptococcus salivarius, Lactobacillus helveticus, Lactobacillus delbrueckii, Enterobacter xiangfangensis, and Acinetobacter baumannii were the primary bacterial species in the fermented dairy product samples. Principal coordinates analysis showed that koumiss and shubat stood out from the other samples. Moreover, permutational ANOVA tests revealed that the types of fermented dairy products and geographical origin significantly affected microbial diversity. However, different processing techniques did not affect microbial diversity. In addition, results of hierarchical clustering and canonical analysis of the principal coordinates were consistent. In conclusion, geographical origin and types of fermented dairy products determined the bacterial diversity in spontaneously fermented dairy product samples.

Development of pineapple and wine flavored fermented dairy product

The objective of this work was to take advantage of buttermilk and whey for the development of a pineapple and wine flavored fermented dairy product and to characterize the product in physicochemical, microbiological and sensorial terms. The experiment was carried out through four treatments with the following formulations: T0 (70% UHT skim milk and 30% whey), T1 (70% buttermilk and 30% whey), T2 (60% buttermilk and 40% whey), T3 (50% buttermilk and 50% whey). The average treatment values did not differ among themselves, at a 5% level of significance, regarding pH, acidity, viscosity and color. The protein and fat levels decreased with the increase of the amount of buttermilk in the treatment formulations. There was no significant difference, at a 5% level of significance, in the average acceptance values of the 57 judges for flavor, texture, aroma, color and overall impression, with values above 8.0 (9 point scale) for all attributes. In the purchase intention test, there also were no differences, with averages superior to 5.4 (7 point scale) for all formulations. All formulations had counts of total coliforms and E. Coli within the acceptable range, taking into consideration the legislation for fermented dairy beverages. Regarding the lactic acid bacteria, the counts were superior to 1.3 x 107 CFU g-1 and also in accordance with the legislation. It was concluded that the use of buttermilk in the production of fermented dairy products is technologically feasible.

A New Synbiotic Fermented Dairy Product: Technological Production Features

Introduction. Many strains used in dairy industry are antagonists of harmful microflora. Logically, a successful combination of several cultures can enhance the bactericidal effect. The present research objective was to develop a fermented milk drink using a prebiotic to stimulate a multicomponent starter culture. Study objects and methods. The research featured pure strains of Bifidobacterium bifidum strain No. 791 and Lactobacillus acidophilus (VZ-AP), as well as Bio-fi Pro WR 400 beet fiber. The study involved standard and conventional research methods. Results and discussion. The first stage defined the optimal ratios of B. bifidum and L. acidophilus for a two-component starter culture, as well as the optimal production method and their antibiotic activity. The second stage featured the functional and technological properties of the prebiotic beet fiber and its effect on the development of microorganisms in the starter. The study resulted in the main production parameters and a technological scheme for the production of fermented dairy product. Conclusion. The paper introduces a new technology for production of a functional fermented milk product fortified with probiotics and prebiotics, as well as approved technical documentation. The new functional fermented dairy product was based on a starter culture that combined a liquid concentrate of B. bifidum strain No. 791 and a starter culture of L. acidophilus (VZ-AP). The optimal ratio of microbial cultures was 5:1, respectively. The starter strain proved to have a high antibiotic activity. Prebiotic beet fiber Bio-fi Pro WR 400 could be recommended as a product stabilizer at the optimal amount of 0.7% by weight of standardized milk.