Physico-chemical, antioxidant, sensory and electromyographic analyses of shrikhand (flavored strained yoghurt) formulated for dysphagia patients under IDDSI levels 4 and 5

Dysphagia is an ailment in which patient’s swallowing ability is compromised and the patient is required to eat semi-solid, pureed or other texture modified foods. Dysphagia prevalence ranges from 2 to 20% worldwide. As the culturally diverse population is growing in developed nations so the demand for commercialization of different ethnic foods is on the rise, even for dysphagia patients. Shrikhand is a semisolid probiotic dairy product made from strained yoghurt (hung curd or Greek yoghurt). Recently, there is an increased interest in this traditional product due to its excellent nutritional profile. In this study, fruit-enriched shrikhands with modified textural properties were formulated under international dysphagia diet standardization initiative (IDDSI) levels 4 and 5. The fruits used were: apple, banana, papaya and mango. The developed fruit-enriched shrikhands were evaluated for physico-chemical properties, antioxidant activity and sensory properties. Moisture content, pH, water activity and acidity varied for developed fruit shrikhands . Papaya shrikhand (level 4) was found to possess the highest moisture content and the lowest pH. The DPPH free radical scavenging activity was the highest for banana shrikhand (76.24%). Sensory analysis revealed that mango shrikhands (levels 4 and 5) were the most acceptable formulations with overall acceptability scores of 8.3 and 8.7, respectively on a 9-point hedonic scale. Electromyography (EMG) is an in vivo technique of comprehensive texture evaluation. It was found that EMG parameters correlated significantly (p