Physicochemical properties and sensory evaluation of yogurt nutritionally enriched with papaya

Abstract

Yogurts are one of the most consumed dairy products, especially in Western and Middle East countries. Papaya is an abundant tropical fruit that contains much higher levels of vitamins and minerals than other tropical fruits. The aim of this work was to develop a protein-rich papaya-flavored yogurt as an inexpensive, nutritionally balanced, healthy snack. The influenced of adding papaya puree at different percentages (5, 10, 15, 20, 25%) on physicochemical and rheological have been explored. This work also investigated consumer preferences in relation to these yogurts, using ratings made by thirty Malaysian participants on a five-point hedonic scale. The addition of papaya to the pure yogurt (up to 25% by weight) increased the product’s crude protein content by up to 46% and reduced its fat content by up to 27%. Nevertheless, the addition of 20% of papaya puree to the yogurt was the most preferred according to sensory evaluation. On most of the attributes tested, participants gave higher ratings for the yogurt nutritionally enriched with papaya than for the pure yogurt. The enrichment of natural yogurt with papaya puree showed to be effective with higher nutritional characteristics.