Spiced yoghurt improves health in various ways such as ability to improve metabolism
and burn extra calories. Consumption of full fat yoghurt has declined due to the
awareness of the probable harmful effects of fat on consumers’ health, thus dietary habits
of consumers have changed and market interest has also tended to change in favour of
low or non-fat yoghurt. This study was aimed at highlighting the physico-chemical,
microbiological analysis and nutritional importance of spiced yoghurts. Standard
methods were used for the production of plain and spice -treated yoghurts and the spices
used were turmeric,
Aframomum danielli
and clove (1% w/v), respectively. All the
yoghurt samples were stored at 4°C.Control sample (plain yoghurt) had no spice.
Physicochemical profile, proximate composition and microbiological analysis were
determined for all the yoghurt samples. The glycemic load of each sample was calculated
by multiplying the glycemic indices (GIs) of non-fat yoghurt (International Glycemic
Index Table) by the available carbohydrate and dividing the product by 100. While the
carbohydrate content of plain yoghurt was 24.15 ± 0.69%, turmeric and
Aframomum
danielli- spiced yoghurts had 14.75 ± 0.69 %and 14.37 ± 1.29%, respectively. The fat
contents of plain, turmeric,
Aframomum danielli and clove spiced - yoghurts were
0.10±0.05%, 0.03±0.01%, 0.20±0.13% and 0.25±0.63%, respectively. The spiced
yoghurts had decreased pH and increased titratable acidity values during the storage
period. Total bacterial counts of turmeric (1.4×10
4 cfu/ml),
Aframomum danielli (1.0×10
4
cfu/ml) and clove (1.6×10
4 cfu/ml) spiced yoghurts decreased when compared to plain
yoghurt with 2.4×10
4 cfu/ml. Some fungi were detected in spiced yoghurts toward the
end of storage period. The results of GIs obtained were found to be under low glycemic
load. Glycemic load of plain yoghurt (7.86± 0.24) was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher
than those of clove (4.56 ± 0.45) and
Aframomum danielli (4.64 ±0.43) spiced yoghurts,
respectively. In conclusion, spiced yoghurt is a nutritionally beneficial product which is
considered to be safe. The findings of the present work can be useful from the standpoint
of health of yoghurt consumers.