Milk contains lactose, protein and lipids along with minerals and vitamins. The milk when converted to fermented milk products the bioavailability of the milk nutrients improves. Yoghurt is one of the fermented milk products which can be prepared using fruits such as Mango, Strawberry, Blackberry and Banana for value addition. One such attempt has been carried out using Red Banana (Musa acuminate; GI Tag No 133-2009) as one of the additional ingredients of value addition. The Red Banana is a tropical fruit of Kamalapur region rich in calcium and potassium and dietary fiber. In order to present the fruit in an appealing manner, the yoghurt incorporated with red banana having both sour and sweet taste that go hand in hand attracting the consumers instead of only fruit or plain yoghurt as such. Red banana pulp incorporated yoghurt was prepared using Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbruckii ssp. bulgaricus as starters that promote consumers gut health by inhibiting putrefactive microorganisms through lactic acid production and bacteriocins. The banana incorporated yoghurt had improved protein content and reduced lactose content. Among the yoghurt samples prepared with added banana pulp at different concentrations such as 5%, 7.5%, 10% and 12.5% along with a control (without banana pulp), sample with 10% of banana pulp was more accepted by the panelists. The selected product had acidity of 0.72% lactic acid with acceptable microbiological standards. The aim of the study was to utilize the locally available red banana for enriching the yoghurt, a fermented product that improve the gut microflora of consumers with prebiotic component of banana and also prevent post harvest losses.

Red Banana, Potassium, Calcium, Dietary Fiber, Yoghurt

The red banana is a tropical fruit of Kamalapur region which is rich in minerals, mainly calcium and potassium along with its richness in dietary fiber. The incorporation of red banana yoghurt enriches the product with minerals, fiber and vitamins to meet dietary requirements of all age groups. The palatability of banana incorporated yoghurt is improved due to fermentation by having both sour (lactic acid) and sweet (starch) flavor. As the product is fermented, gut health of consumers is benefitted not only due to acidity but also with the abundant source of starch as prebiotic that stimulate probiotic microflora.

Shashikumar C.S., Manjunatha H., Basavabharati, Devaraju R., Priyatam Reddy K. and Vijaykumar M. (2023). Process optimization of Fruit Yoghurt by using Kamalapur Red Banana (GI Tag No: 133-2009). Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(12): 107-111.