Physico-chemical, textural, microbiological and sensory properties together with fatty acid profiles of presumptive probiotic yoghurts fortified with persimmon (<i>Diospyros kaki</i>) powder

This research paper focuses on enrichment of yoghurt containing probiotic <i>Lactobacillus casei</i> with persimmon (<i>Diospyros kaki</i>) powder in concentrations of 0 (Control) and then 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0% (A-D respectively) and determination of some characteristics of the product during refrigerated storage for 21 d. Powder addition affected the color characteristics, textural properties, titratable acidity and water-holding capacity values. The viability of both yoghurt bacteria (<i>Lactobacillus delbrueckii</i> subsp. <i>bulgaricus</i> and <i>Streptococcus thermophilus</i>) and <i>L. casei</i> increased proportionally to adding persimmon powder for all storage days. Furthermore, addition of fruit powder increased short-chain fatty acid and polyunsaturated fatty acid contents. According to sensory analysis results, sample D had the lowest scores from the panelists, whereas the Control together with samples B and C were the most liked yoghurts in terms of flavor characteristics. In terms of overall acceptability, all of the samples received scores over three points on a five-point scale throughout storage. This study indicates that persimmon powder enriched yoghurt is a good vehicle for <i>L. casei</i> and yoghurt bacteria with improved fatty acid profile and acceptable sensory characteristics.