Yogurt production added ultrafiltered seed extract of Moringa oleifera Lam.

Currently, costumers seek foods that contain natural ingredients in their composition. Moringa oleifera is seen with potential for food use, making it an attractive alternative for healthy consumption. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the potentiality of the Moringa additive obtained from its ultrafiltered saline extract as a thickening agent in the production of yogurt. Physico-chemical analyses, syneresis, rheology, texture analyses, and scanning electron microscopy were performed on yogurts. The moisture content of yogurts ranged from 77.14 to 77.89%, and total solids from 22.86 to 22.11%. The other physicochemical characteristics showed no significant differences (p < 0.05) between the analyzed samples. For all concentrations of Moringa additives evaluated, G' values were higher than G '' indicating that they presented a behavior viscoelastic. The concentrated additive (2 mg L-1) produced a yogurt with reduced susceptibility to syneresis as well as increased firmness, and confirmed with the microstructure that was more homogeneous and compact (C2). On the other hand, the increase in permeate additive concentration of Moringa seed increased the syneresis and decreased the firmness of yogurt. The results obtained show that the use of Moringa extract as an additive in the formulation of yogurt has the potential to be exploited in commercial use, improving the yogurt texture and with less syneresis.

Automated summary

The study found that using Moringa extract as an additive can improve the texture of yogurt, reduce syneresis, and has commercial potential.