Physicochemical, antioxidant and microbial properties of sweetened yoghurt produced from partial substitution of sugar with soursop puree

This study was targeted towards evaluating the outcome of partially substituting sugar with soursop puree at different proportions, varying pasteurization temperatures, storage durations and with the application of sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate as chemical preservatives on physiochemical, antioxidant and microbial qualities of yoghurt. There was a strong correlation ( R 2 = 0.7, Adjusted R 2 = 0.65) between the syneresis and the water-holding capacity of the yoghurt as the substitution increased. At 50% soursop puree substitution in the yoghurt production, DPPH radical scavenging activity, total phenolic content, vitamin C, carbohydrate, protein, and ash contents increased to 34.40%, 1.25 mg GAE/L, 58.50 mg/100 g, 29.26, 4.02 and 0.69%, respectively. Storage duration does not have a significant influence on the proximate composition of the yoghurt samples. However, the vitamin C content of the yoghurt decreased when the pasteurization temperature was more than 80 °C. The growth of lactic acid bacteria ranged between 2.9 × 10 5 and 2.16 × 10 6 CFU/ml. The use of sodium benzoate inhibited yeast growth more than potassium sorbate while soursop substitution inhibited the growth of mould from 1.0 × 10 6 CFU/ml to 3.05 × 10 5 CFU/ml than the preservatives. Coliform was absent in all the yoghurt samples with or without preservatives. This information would be valuable in yoghurt development and quality control. Graphical Abstract