Standardization and Quality Evaluation of Jackfruit based Low Fat Yogurt

The state fruit of Kerala, jack, is a miraculous fruit due to its nutrient profile, health benefits and greater potential for value addition. It can be better utilised if consumer acceptable products are prepared from this fruit. The growing demand for "healthy food" is stimulating the innovation and development of new products nationally and internationally. Yogurt, a milk-based product, is a healthy food which offers high nutritional value with concentrated amounts of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. The added value of yogurt over milk lies in the presence of beneficial bacteria as well as certain bioactive components. The study was aimed at developing a low-fat yogurt. Hence in this study, yogurts were prepared by incorporating varying proportions of blanched jackfruit pulp (10%, 20%, and 30%) along with equal volumes of homogenized and skimmed milk. Both koozha and varikka variety of jackfruits were prepared. The jackfruit bulbs were steam blanched for five minutes and pulped to prepare the yogurt. Plain yogurt served as the control. The prepared yogurts were organoleptically evaluated using a 9 point hedonic scale with a panel of 15 judges. The selection of the best sample was done based on Kendall's coefficient of concordance. Among the fruit yogurts, the yogurt with 30% jackfruit pulp scored maximum for the sensory attributes. Chemical parameters like pH, moisture, fat, protein, crude fiber and a total ash content of the yogurts were determined.