Technological, rheological and sensory characterizations of a yogurt containing an exopolysaccharide extract from Lactobacillus fermentum Lf2, a new food additive

Lactobacillus fermentum Lf2, an autochthonous strain isolated as a non starter culture in Cremoso cheese, produces high EPS levels (~ 1 g/L) in optimized conditions (SDM broth, pH 6.0, 30 °C, 72 h). Technological (texture profile and rheological analysis) and sensory properties of non-fat yogurts with 300 and 600 mg EPS/L were studied at 3 and 25 days after manufacture. Yogurts with different EPS concentrations showed higher hardness values than the control group at both periods of time, being the only significant difference that remained stable during time. The consistency index was also higher for the treated samples at both times evaluated, being significantly different for samples with 300 mg/L of EPS extract, while the flow behavior index was lower for EPS-added yogurts. The thixotropic index was lower (P