Investigating the physicochemical and sensory properties of synbiotic cocoa milk containing "inulin, stevia and lactobacillus plantarum"

Today, there is a great desire to consume superfoods. Among them, foods and drinks containing probiotics and prebiotic compounds are also important. Probiotics are known as live microorganisms that balance the host's microbial flora in sufficient quantities. Most probiotic microorganisms are lactic acid bacteria such as Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Streptococcus lactis. Inulin is a sugar compound (of the oligosaccharide type) and is indigestible or with little digestibility, it is soluble in water and has prebiotic properties, and as a source of carbon or energy, it selectively causes the growth or activity of probiotics. Cocoa milk is one of the flavored milks and high amounts of sugar are used in its formulation. Using other sweeteners as a substitute can lower the amount of calories consumed by the consumer and prevent some diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Stevia is a di-terpene glycoside, which is 300 times sweeter than sugar. In this research, stevia was used as a substitute for regular sugar and inulin as a prebiotic in the production of synbiotic cocoa milk with Lactobacillus plantarum, and 6 samples were prepared and coded; Samples include T1 (58 of stevia); T2: (%4 of stevia ); T3: (%8of inulin + %8 of sugar); T4: (%4 of inulin +%8 of sugar); T5: (%4 of stevia + %4 of inulin + 120 grams of sugar); T6: (%8 of sugar, control sample) per amount of milk consumed (3 liters of milk).The viability of probiotics, pH, acidity, Brix, viscosity, sedimentation rate and sensory evaluations of the samples were investigated on the first, third and seventh day of production. According to the results obtained from the research, samples containing inulin,especially T5 and T4 samples, had more live probiotics after 3 and 7 days of storage ....