Preparation and microbiological evaluation of novel fermented whey based corn product

Abstract

All the consumers today have considerable portion of their nutritional needs through fermented foods and beverages. Whey protein offers great functionality as well as many health benefits and could prove to be a key functional ingredient. An economical alternative way to transform whey into valuable products had been through microbial fermentation, for this addition of whey to corn flour in following proportions was done: T1 60:40, T2 65:35, T3 70:30, T4 75:25 and T0 (control) was made with 65 per cent water and 35% corn flour. The prepared product was evaluated for sensory attributes and data were statistically analyzed. The results showed that T1 60:40 was best among all treatments having pH 4.67 and titratable acidity 0.66% LA. The T1 was the most accepted product scored by the judges for the colour and appearance, body and texture, flavour, sweetness and overall acceptability 8.09, 8.27, 7.99, 7.73 and 7.77. From the naturally fermented whey corn batter the LAB (15 Streptoococci isolates and 13 Lactobacilli isolates) and lactose fermenting yeast (7) were isolated and identified through various biochemical tests. The product was prepared with different combination of starter isolates used as starter culture along with T1 as control. The results showed that PD5 (combination of starter isolates fermented) was best among all treatments and it having pH 5.04 and 0.65% TA. The PD5 scored the sensory value of (7.93, 7.73, 7.76, 7.07 and 7.70). The products with natural and starter isolates fermented were compared. The study concludes that the whey-based fermented corn product was developed in combination of starter culture isolates, demonstrated enhanced sensory attributes and a significantly reduced fermentation time (4 hours) compared to natural fermentation methods.