Enhanced Antioxidant Potential of Supplemented Yogurt with Sea Buckthorn

Sea buckthorn, Hippophae rhamnoides, is a renowned fruit in Chinese traditional medicine. The plant contains a massive number of polyphenols, phytochemicals like vitamin C, flavonoids and carotenoids which act as antioxidants and effective against ailments like cold, cough, inflammation, aging and cancer. Yogurt is an ancient fermented milk product and has been using for nutritional purposes. The current study evaluated the antioxidant potential of sea buckthorn pulp (SP) and shelf life and physicochemical characteristics of supplemented yogurt with sea buckthorn. Yogurt was developed using whole milk supplemented with sea buckthorn by 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 percent respectively. Physicochemical, phytochemical, microbial and sensory evaluation of yogurt was done at different storage period (0, 7, 14 and 21 days) and obtained data was subjected statistical design. Among 5 treatments T3 showed more acceptability levels in yogurt in terms of physicochemical phytochemical, microbial and sensory evaluation with negligible change in storage period. Negligible changes were shown of ascorbic acid, carotenoids, vitamin E, antioxidant activity and total polyphenolics contents in T3 20.65mg/g, 1.46mg/g, 12.00mg/g, 85.1% and 24.2% respectively. Microbial count of T3 remained < 10 log CFU/ml with negligible change in storage period of 21 days. T3 scored highest on the 9-point hedonic scale during the sensory evaluation as well. This research concluded that sea buckthorn can be supplemented in yogurt for utilization of its antioxidant benefits. in the search for, certification and implementation of safe natural additives. The growing demand for the so-called "clean label" foods is the driving force for many of the conducted researches in the last two decades.