Designing Spoonable Milk Kefir Gels: From Fermentation Optimization to Clean-Label Gel Structuring with Psyllium

Kefir is a fermented dairy product whose structural properties can be modified to enhance its nutritional and sensory profile. The objective of this study was to develop spoonable milk kefir gels by optimizing fermentation conditions and incorporating psyllium and calcium chloride as structuring agents. In the initial phase of the study, a full factorial design was employed to conduct a comparative analysis of whole milk and skimmed milk during the fermentation process of kefir. The study encompassed the evaluation of the impact of various parameters, including inoculum level, temperature, and fermentation time, on the acidification kinetics of the fermentation process. This evaluation was facilitated through the measurement of pH and total acidity levels. Skimmed milk demonstrated accelerated acidification, consistently attaining a final pH of 4.08 and a total acidity of 9.99 g·L^-1 lactic acid equivalents under optimized conditions (5.5% weight:weight grains, 26 °C, 24 h). In the subsequent phase, kefir obtained under these conditions was gelled with varying concentrations of psyllium and calcium chloride. Rheological characterization revealed that psyllium markedly strengthened the gel network: at 3.06% <i>w</i>:<i>w</i> psyllium, the elastic modulus increased up to 209.6 Pa, while the critical stress improved from 0.64 Pa at low psyllium/Ca²⁺ to 10.42 Pa at high psyllium content. Furthermore, zero-shear viscosity increased substantially, exceeding 1500 Pa·s in high-psyllium, low-calcium formulations. The findings demonstrate that combining fermentation optimization with clean-label structuring agents enables the development of low-fat kefir gels with enhanced textural and processing properties, supporting their potential as synbiotic, functional dairy products.