Evaluation of Quality Characteristics of Goat Milk Yogurt Incorporated with Beetroot Juice

Abstract- Production of goat milk has increased worldwide due to its numerous health benefits. Goat milk is a rich source of proteins, vitamins, minerals as well as many short and medium chain fatty acids. Goat milk has better digestibility, lower allergenicity and suitable for those who suffer from lactose intolerance. Considering those health benefits, current study was carried out to produce a goat milk yogurt and identify the plausibility use of beetroot juice to mask the goaty flavor. Yogurt samples were stored at 4 o C and physicochemical evaluation was conducted for 21 days at the interval of seven days. Addition of beetroot juice into goat milk increased moisture content and lowered total solid content while fat, protein and ash contents were non-significant during the storage. The titratable acidity of plain goat milk yogurt and beetroot yogurt decreased from 0.91 % to 0.80 % and 0.85 % to 0.84 % respectively where as pH increased from 4.45 to 4.54 for plain goat milk yogurt and 4.34 to 4.64 for beetroot yogurt after 21 days of storage. Highest microbial count was observed after 14 days of storage; 18.70 x10 6 for plain yogurtand 17.56 x1