Organoleptic, chemical, and microbiological characteristics of goat milk yogurt using Lactobacillus plantarum T14 and T35 with the addition of stevia sweetener

Abstract

Yogurt is a functional food that is in demand by the public. The high sucrose content in yogurt can cause health problems, especially for people with diabetes mellitus. Making goat milk yogurt using stevia as a sweetener is one solution. The purpose of this study was to know the organoleptic, chemical, and microbiological characteristics of goat milk yogurt fermented using Lactobacillus plantarum T14 and T35, which added with stevia sweetener. This research was conducted using a Factorial Completely Randomized Design. The first factor was the strain of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), namely Lactobacillus plantarum T14 and Lactobacillus plantarum T35. The second factor was the concentration of stevia, namely 0%; 0.25%; and 0.5%. The yogurt processing was carried out by adding goat milk with 10% skim milk and 1% (v/v) LAB inoculum, then incubated at 37 °C for 16 hours. We found that goat milk yogurt with a Lactobacillus plantarum T14 and a stevia concentration of 0.25% was the most preferred. The your contents of protein, water, fat, titrated acid, and ash content were 6.48-6.57%; 78.11-80.45%; 5.03-5.16%; 0.56-0.61%;and 1.50-1.55%, respectively. The log increase of Lactobacillus plantarum T14 and T35 about 1.48-1.54 and 0.17-0.45, respectively.