Low‐calorie synbiotic yoghurt from indigenous probiotic culture and combination of inulin and oligofructose: Improved sensory, rheological, and textural attributes

Skim milk served as the base for the production of low‐calorie synbiotic yoghurt (LCSY) and four randomly selected indigenous LAB probiotic strains namely, Lactobacillus acidophilus (NCDC 13), Lactobacillus paracasei ssp. paracasei (NCDC 627), Lactobacillus rhamnosus (NCDC 610), and Lactobacillus plantarum (NCDC 344) were evaluated for their growth characteristics in skim milk. Lactobacillus rhamnosus with S. thermophilus 74 (LR_74) exhibited desirable pH (4.60 ± 0.01), acidity, significantly highest acidification rate (4.23 ± 0.03 × 10−3 pH units min‐), probiotic count (9.10 ± 0.10 log cfu/ml), and specific growth rate (0.47 ± 0.08 hr−1). Also, Power law model fitted best for skim milk inoculated with LR_74. Further, evaluation of prebiotics namely, inulin and oligofructose at different levels revealed that the combination of inulin and oligofructose at 2% significantly improved the viscosity (13.75 ± 0.33 Pa s), sensory, textural properties, and probiotic count (9.67 ± 0.02 log cfu/ml) of LCSY. Practical applications The results of our study reveal a suitable and compatible combination of yoghurt culture and probiotic culture which could further be exploited for the development of inulin/oligofructose or combination thereof, based synbiotic beverages and other fermented dairy products.