Study on the Biochemical, Microbiological and Sensory Characteristics of Synbiotic Chocolate Milk

Chocolate milk is one of the most popular non-fermented dairy products. However, it has been criticized lately for being a contributor to diabetes, child obesity and child tooth decay because of the higher sugar content than white milk. Therefore, it is important to substitude its sucrose with D-tagatose. Also this product has potential to be a probiotic carrier. In this research, the effects of different ratios of Sucrose/D-Tagatose (100:0, 0:100 or 50:50), as well as the type of probiotic culture (L. acidophilus, L. casei, L. rhamnosus or B. lactis) on the biochemical, microbiological and sensory characteristics of synbiotic chocolate milk were studied during 21 days in refrigerated storage (at 5°C). The control samples were without probiotic. The treatments inoculated with L. acidophilus, L. casei, L. rhamnosus and B. lactis showed significantly higher biochemical properties compared to non-probiotic ones. The greatest viability at the end of storage was related to the treatment of D-tagatose with L. rhamnosus (T-R), as well as D-tagatose with L. casei (T-C). In general, the treatments T-R, ST-R (sucrose and D-tagatose with L. rhamnosus), T-B (D-tagatose with B. lactis) and ST-B (sucrose and D-tagatose with B. lactis) were realized as the best ones in terms of probiotic viability, functional property and sensory attributes of D-tagatose. D-Tagatose could be successfully used as a natural sugar substitute with functional properties for probiotic chocolate milks enhancing their health benefits, but the proper selection of sucrose/D-tagatose ratio and type of probiotic strain is recommended.