Sensory Evaluation and Acceptance of Goat Yogurts in Comparison with Cow yogurts—An Empirical Study

Abstract

The economic importance of goat production has increased worldwide during the last few decades. Goats have many advantages that enable them to maintain their production under extreme climate and geographic conditions. Goat milk is an excellent food source. It has beneficial effects for health maintenance, physiological functions, in the nutrition of children and elderly people. The chemical characteristics of goat milk can be used to manufacture a wide variety of products including yogurt. Cow milk products are the most commonly consumed milk products in Hungary, at the same time goat dairy products are rarely consumed. The main reasons for refusing goat milk products are their special flavor and taste as well as their premium price and availability. This research aimed to review the economic importance of goat breeding, nutritional and health benefits of goat milk and yogurts; to investigate the perception and acceptance of plain and fruity yogurts made from goat and cow milk. Characteristics of the yogurts were evaluated by the respondents using a rating scale of 1–10. The preferred way of consumption and the affordable price of yogurts were also investigated. This research is part of more complex research including the comparative evaluation and acceptance of cheese, cottage cheese, as well made from cow, sheep and goat milk. A further aim of this current and the entire investigation is to make recommendations on how to increase the consumption of goat milk products in Hungary. SPSS was used for the evaluation, including mean, median, standard deviation, and H2 correlation. The research was carried out in the autumn of 2018 and the beginning of 2019 in Debrecen, Hungary. To test the perception and acceptance of these dairy products blinded test was carried out with the involvement of 202 respondents.