DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH-PROTEIN PLANT-BASED YOGURT FROM OAT, CHICKPEA AND PEA PROTEIN

Abstract

For health benefit and sustainable process reasons, consumption of plant-based diets is becoming more popular nowadays. Yogurt, traditionally fermented from dairy milk, has already been developed with plant milks offering a dairy-free alternative for individuals with lactose intolerance and cow’s milk allergy. In this study, oat and chickpea were selected to create a new plant-based yogurt. A more balanced amino acid profile can be achieved by combining a grain (oat) and a legume (chickpea) in the product. The first objective was to investigate the appropriate proportion of oat and chickpea (5:5, 6:6, 7:7) in yogurt. Sensory analysis revealed that the 6:6 ratio was favored by panelists in more quality attributes (p≤0.05). Most plant-based foods are low in protein compared with animal-derived foods. Hence, the second objective was to enhance the protein concentration of yogurt by substituting some chickpea with pea protein isolate (4:2, 3:3, 2:4). The higher level of pea protein in yogurt contributed to decreased firmness, lower acidity, and higher syneresis (p≤0.05). The protein contents of yogurt substituted with 0, 2, 3 and 4% pea protein were 3.74, 5.58, 6.71 and 7.98%, respectively. However, yogurt with 3% pea protein was preferred in more sensory quality categories (p≤0.05). In summary, the combination of 6% oat, 3% chickpea, and 3% pea protein was the most suitable ingredient ratio for developing a novel plant-based yogurt with a high-protein content and a balanced amino acid composition.