Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Food Bioscience, cilt.69, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
In the functional food market, new and healthier products are being developed by combining probiotic culture with minerals, nutrients, and dietary fibre to meet customer preferences. Opuntia ficus-indica cladode pulp (OFIC) is an ideal source for creating nutraceutical or functional ingredients due to its rich nutritional profile, high fiber content, and abundance of minerals and antioxidants. With this study, yogurts were produced with Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis probiotic culture and three different ratios of OFIC; compared to plain yogurt and plain yogurt with inulin during the storage period (14 days). OFIC addition notably enhanced the mineral content, particularly magnesium (up to 143 mg/L), copper (60.18 mg/L), manganese (63.53 mg/L), and zinc (290.98 mg/L). Volatile compound analysis identified (E)-hex-2-enal and (Z)-hex-2-en-1-ol as distinctive aroma markers in OFIC-supplemented samples, with levels correlating to OFIC concentration. Antioxidant activity reached 4.66 mg TE/kg on day 1, while total phenolic content peaked at 83.79 mg GAE/kg. Although some degradation in bioactives occurred during storage, OFIC-enriched yogurts consistently demonstrated superior nutraceutical profiles. Sensory evaluation confirmed all samples were organoleptically acceptable, though controls exhibited higher scores for texture and flavor. As a result, it was concluded that fruit yogurts containing a combination of 1 % inulin +2 % OFIC along with Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis, BB-12 can be produced industrially as a functional product.