Functional and sensory impacts of <i>Moringa oleifera</i> leaf powder on fortified cow milk yogurt during refrigerated storage

In this study, Moringa oleifera leaves powder (MOLP) was incorporated in yoghurt at different concentrations: 0% (T0), 0.2% (T1), 0.4% (T2) and 0.6% (T3). These yoghurt formulations were observed for physicochemical, rheological, antioxidant, and sensorial properties during refrigerated storage for 21 days, with an interval of 7 days. All treatments produced results that were statistically different from one another (p ≤ 0.05). On storage for 0–21 days, higher values of total acidity, total solids, viscosity, protein, water holding capacity, TPC, TFC, and antioxidant capacity were noted in yoghurt fortified with 0.6% MOLP (T3) than in the control samples. Microbial analysis revealed that T3 exhibited higher lactic acid bacteria count and lower total coliform and yeast and mold counts. Throughout the 21-day storage period, all MOLP-incorporated yoghurt formulations had lower pH, fat, syneresis, total coliform count, and yeast and mold count values than the control. The findings also indicated that throughout a 21-day storage period at 5 ± 1 °C, yoghurt fortified with 0.2% MOLP received the highest scores for most of the sensory parameters. Thus, MOLP could be a healthy choice for fortifying fermented dairy foods with both functional and nutritional roles.