Enriching kefir produced from cow and buffalo milks with different doses of partially hydrolyzed guar gum

Kefir is an acidic dairy product that is obtained through the fermentation of different types of milk. It has several health-promoting properties due to its probiotic content. Kefir fortification with dietary fibers is a potential method to further increase the quality of kefir. While several studies have been conducted on this topic, choosing the appropriate dietary fiber that provides both conditions of increasing the number of probiotics along with improving the physical and chemical properties of kefir is challenging. Partially hydrolyzed guar gum (PHGG) is a non-viscous water-soluble dietary fiber with high fermentability by microorganisms. The aim is to produce cow and buffalo kefir enriched with PHGG and to investigate the effects of the PHGG on proximate, microbial, and sensory analyses. Kefir was produced using commercial kefir grains and 1% and 2% PHGG at 25 °C for 36 hours. Then, the products were kept at 4 °C for 21 days. As a result, there was no effect of PHGG on pH value. At the end of fermentation, the viscosity of kefir samples containing 1% and 2% PHGG decreased, except for buffalo kefir containing 2% PHGG. Fortifying cow kefir with 2% of PHGG gained the highest acceptability score.