Increase the survival of Lactobacillus ramnosus LGG and improved physicochemical, reological and sensory properties of fermented milk using Roman nettle mucilage compared with Inulin

The aim of this study was to investigate the prebiotic potential of Roman nettle seed mucilage in the growth and survival of Lactobacillus rhamnosus (LGG) as well as changes in different physicochemical, reological and sensory properties of fermented milk compared with inulin (commercial prebiotic) during the storage time. For this purpose, values of 0.025, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2% (w/w) of nettle seed mucilage and 0.5 and 1% (w/w) inulin has been added to the recombined milk and after inoculation of bacteria, changes in acidity, syneresis, viscosity, the number of probiotic bacteria and sensory properties were studied during 21 days. The results showed that the addition of mucilage to fermented milk improved the growth and survival of L. rhamnosus and subsequently increase the acidity of the samples. Furthermore, the addition of mucilage compared with inulin, led to reduction in syneresis of the samples and higher counts of probiotics during storage. Finally, according to physico-chemical, microbiological and organoleptic results, samples containing 0.1% (w/w) of mucilage were considered as the best sample in this study.