Resumen de Physiochemical Properties and Probiotic Survivability of Symbiotic Corn‐Based Yogurt‐Like Product
Cuina Wang, Huajie Zheng, Tingting Liu, Dawei Wang, Mingruo Guo
Corn is a major grain produced in northern China. Corn‐based functional food products are very limited. In this study, a symbiotic corn‐based yogurt‐like product was developed. Corn milk was prepared through grinding, extrusion and milling, and hydration processes. Corn extrudate was prepared under the optimized conditions of corn flour particle size <180 μm, moisture content of 15% and extrusion temperature at 130 °C. The corn milk was prepared from 8% corn extrudate suspension and then milled twice with 0.1% glyceryl monostearate and 0.1% sucrose ester as emulsifiers. The corn milk was mixed with sugar (5%), glucose (2%), soy protein isolate (0.75%), inulin (1%), polymerized whey protein (0.3%) and xanthan gum (0.09%) as thickening agents. The mixture was fermented at 35 °C for 6 h using a probiotic starter culture containing L. plantarum. Chemical composition (%) of the symbiotic corn‐based yogurt‐like product was: total solids (17.13 ± 0.31), protein (1.12 ± 0.03), fat (0.30 ± 0.05), carbohydrates (15.14 ± 0.19), and ash (0.16 ± 0.02), respectively. pH value of this symbiotic product decreased from 4.50 ± 0.03 to 3.88 ± 0.13 and the population of L. plantarumdeclined from 7.8 ± 0.09 to 7.1 ± 0.14 log CFU/mL during storage at 4 °C. SDS‐PAGE analysis showed that there were no changes in protein profile during storage. Texture and consistency were also stable during the period of this study. It can be concluded that a set‐type corn‐based symbiotic yogurt‐like product with good texture and stability was successfully developed that would be a good alternative to the dairy yogurt. Due to absence of a natural protein network, it is difficult to make set‐type symbiotic corn‐based yogurt‐like products. In this study, the manufacturing technology and novel formula for developing the corn‐based yogurt‐like product may have potential for commercialization of yogurt‐like grain‐based functional foods. It might be a good alternative to cow milk yogurt.
