The effect of shallot on probiotic bacteria viability and some physicochemical and overall acceptability of low-fat stirred yogurt

Since most probiotic foods are dairy products and with regard to changing taste of people, dairy product manufacturers are trying to develop new products, which have high nutritional value in addition provide variety for consumer‘s taste. Nowadays, flavored yogurt has a wide adoption between consumers. Flavoring of yogurt is made by adding natural ingredients such as a variety of fresh or dried fruits and vegetables such as mint, pennyroyal, basil and shallot. In this study, the effects of adding Iranian shallot at 0/2, 0/3 and 0/4% on the viability of probiotic bacteria (Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium lactis) and some physico-chemical (pH, titratable acidity, syneresis and viscosity) and overall acceptability of low-fat stirred probiotic yogurt containing 0/08 percent beta-glucan was investigated. The results showed that the addition of shallot affected significantly titratable acidity and pH of yogurt samples (p<0.05). With increasing the percentage of shallot, the viscosity and the viability of probiotic bacteria of stirred yoghurt samples was decreased and syneresis and overall acceptability was increased (p<0.05).