Appraisal of Proximate Composition in Tiger Nut Yogurts and Selected Commercially Available Yogurts in Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria: A Comparative Study

This study evaluated the physicochemical, chemical and microbial compositions of tiger nut and selected conventional yoghurts. During the study proximate, mineral, vitamins, chemical and physicochemical and bacterial analysis were done accordingly. The results of proximate analysisshow that the fat and crude fibre compositions of tiger nut differed significantly (p < 0.05) with the values of conventional yoghurts, while no significant difference (p > 0.05) was observed in the concentration values of ash. Tiger nut yoghurts recorded highest values of 8.39±0.04 mg/l (vitamin C), while Cd, Ni and Pb were below detectable limit in all the yoghurts. The concentration values of Cu in the conventional and tiger nut yoghurts varied significantly (p < 0.5). Tiger nut yoghurt concentration values of polyphenol, total tannin and phytate are significantly different (p < 0.05). Results show that pH, TTA and conductivity values in sample A, B and tiger nut yoghurts are not significantly different (p > 0.05), while it differed significantly (p < 0.05) with reference to viscosity, TSS, TS and magnesium. The microbial cell count of Lactobacillus acidophilus was dependent on innoculum size and number of days. At day 7 conventional yoghurt A, tiger nut yoghurt and conventional yoghurt B recorded the highest loads of TVC (3.8 x 102), TCC (4.33 x 102) and TBC (6.12 x 107), while the highest loads of 3.3 x 105 (TVC), 5.1 x 103 (TCC) and 4.1 x 106 (TBC) are observed in the tiger nut yoghurt, yoghurts A and B at day 14 respectively. The study recommends production and promotion of plant basedyoghurts drink for improvement of healthy and unhealthy individuals.