A Sustainable Method: Production of the Fermented Rice Milk Yogurt by Using Three Efficient Lactic Acid Bacteria
Wael N. Hozzein, Sameh M. Hisham, Dalal Hussien M. Alkhalifah
Abstract
Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have long been used as starters in non-dairy cereal fermentation, as they aid in the production of products such as yoghurt and cheese. Broken rice milk is a plant-based milk alternative that is high in carbs and low in fat, providing excellent nutritional value to human users. The current study intends to ferment broken rice milk supplemented with 6% skim milk using three Lactobacillus strains for the development of yoghurt products, as well as to evaluate the growth, changes in physio-chemical properties, and sensory qualities of the yoghurt produced. Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus, and a commercial yoghurt culture consortium fermented broken rice milk after 8 h. Rather than employing L. acidophilus or a commercial yogurt culture consortia, L. bulgarics was the most efficient starter for yoghurt manufacturing, followed by L. casei. L. bulgaricus had the highest viability counts of 8.5 Log CFU/mL, 0.18 specific growth rate, and 3.78 doubling time. Furthermore, it produces a significant reduction in pH to 4.3 and increases total titratable acidity to 0.09 percent with high overall acidity values of 1.4 mg/L of acetic and lactic acid contents. The maximum acidification rate (Vmax) was 0.2125, the maximum acidification time (Tmax) was 4 h, and the time to reach pH 4.6 (Te) was 5 to 8 h. As a result, L. bulgaricus was chosen as the most efficient isolate for the production of fermented rice milk yoghurt. More research is needed, however, to investigate the new rice-based yoghurt product’s sensory qualities as well as its toxicological effects on normal and malignant human cells.