Nutritional and sensory evaluation of African breadfruit-corn yoghurt

Single extracts of African breadfruit (Treculia africana var africana) and sweet corn (Golden cob F1) were blended on 60:40 proportions to produce breadfruit-corn milk. The breadfruit-corn milk was fermented to obtain a yoghurt-like product (breadfruit-corn yoghurt), using inoculums drawn from activation batch of dried starter and previously made breadfruit-corn milk. The breadfruit-corn yoghurt was subjected to nutritional and sensorial evaluation using commercial cow milk yoghurt as a control. The breadfruit-corn yoghurt was significantly (p<0.05) higher in moisture, carbohydrate, calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc, vitamin B2 and vitamin C. The commercial cow milk yoghurt was significantly (p<0.05) higher in protein, fat, ash, crude fibre, sodium, manganese, vitamins A, B1 and B3. Sensory scores show that the commercial milk yoghurt was significantly (p<0.05) higher in all the sensory attributes considered. In all, the breadfruit-corn yoghurt has acceptable nutritional and sensorial qualities which show it is a potential alternative to cow milk yoghurt from economic and health perspectives. Key words: Yoghurt, lactic acid bacteria, nutritional, fermentation, breadfruit-corn yoghurt.