Impact of honey incorporation on quality characteristics of stirred goat-milk yoghurt containing probiotic <i>Lactiplantibacillus plantarum</i>

This research aimed to analyse the influence of <i>Apis mellifera intermissa</i> honey supplementation on the technological, physicochemical, microbiological and sensory characteristics of stirred goat yoghurt containing <i>Lactiplantibacillus plantarum</i> C78, a novel probiotic strain, during 28 days of refrigerated storage. Four formulations of yoghurt were prepared, with different honey contents (0.5 %, 10 % and 15 %), and all samples were inoculated with the probiotic strain. The colour, syneresis (52.45 ± 0.19%), viscosity (28 ± 0.25 Pa.s) and sensory acceptance were improved in samples having 15% honey. The viability of <i>L. plantarum</i> C78 in all yoghurt samples presented counts above 7 log CFU/mL until the day-28 of refrigerated storage and honey increased the count of probiotic culture to 8.5 and 8.7 log CFU/mL at day-14 and day-21 of storage. These results reveal a successful incorporation of both probiotic and honey and promote the nutritional and sensory properties of the new yoghurt formulation.