Investigation of physicochemical and sensory properties of functional cocoa milk containing berry juice, whey and various hydrocolloids

This study aims to produce drinkable flavored milk using berry juice (as a source of functional compounds), cacao and various hydrocolloids such as inulin, guar gum and gelatin as stabilizing in both low and high fatty formulation. The stabilizers included inulin, guar and gelatin (at levels of 0.25 and 0.5%). In all samples, the amount of berry juice was the same. The results showed that application of stabilizers significantly (P< 0.05) decreased pH and increased acidity. Studies also showed that the viscosity and sedimentation rate of the samples were completely dependent on the presence of hydrocolloids and fat in their formulation. So that, increasing the amount of hydrocolloids and fat in the formulation significantly increased the viscosity of the samples and reduced the deposition of the particles in the product, thereby stabilizing the final product. High-fat formulation with high levels of sustainability yielded higher overall acceptance in the study of sensory properties, too. In general, the treatment containing 0.5% inulin, 0.5% guar and 0.5% gelatin as a stabilizer resulted in improvement of the physical and sensory properties of the functional drinkable milk.