Incorporation of ginger peel polyphenol into yogurt improves its stability: Physicochemical and microbiological characterizations

Abstract

Microencapsulation is a novel process of plant-extracted polyphenol enrichment into yogurt to extend storage stability with improved quality. This study was intended to develop and characterize functional yogurt that had been microencapsulated with ginger-extracted polyphenol to observe stability at refrigeration temperature (4 ± 1 °C). The phenolic content, microencapsulation efficiency, physiochemical properties, texture, microbiological, and sensory properties were evaluated. The microencapsulation efficiency was found to be 94.40 ± 0.05%. In comparison to the dairy yogurt, the polyphenol-enriched yogurt was darker and had a lower a* (redness to greenness) value and a higher b* (yellowness to blueness) value. Yogurt with added polyphenols decreased the rate at which the pH changed. The phenolic yogurt sample outperformed the control yogurt in terms of water-holding capacity and syneresis. The texture of the treated sample was also superior after three weeks of storage compared to the control. In phenolic yogurt, the rate of Lactobacillus viability decline was reduced. Including ginger extract in yogurt reduced the sensory score in color, flavor, taste, and overall acceptability, but the decreasing rate was reduced. This study demonstrates that the ginger extract polyphenol can be effectively microencapsulated to increase yogurt stability under refrigeration.

KEY WORDS: Ginger, Polyphenols¸ Microencapsulation, Yogurt, Shelf life

Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2025, 39(2), 201-213.                                                        

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v39i2.2