Sensory quality evaluation of whey-based beverages

• Main Authors: Veronika Legarová, Lenka Kouřimská
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Croatian Dairy Union 2010-12-01
• Series: Mljekarstvo
• Subjects: whey drinks; fermentation; yoghurt starter culture; acidity; sensory analysis
• Online Access: http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=93756
• ISSN: 0026-704X; 1846-4025

Whey as a by-product of the cheese industry is a source of biological and functional valuable proteins. The aim of this research was to evaluate the commercial potential of whey-based dairy beverages containing a definite amount of semi-skimmed milk addition. The purpose of this paper was to improve the whey flavour via its fermentation by commercial yogurt starter cultures, and via 25 % and 50 % of milk addition. The course of fermentation was monitored by pH and titratable acidity changes. The sensory profile of non-fermented and fermented drinks was assessed using unstructured graphical scales. No significant differences in acidity were found between the samples which were fermented for 3 or 4 hours, but a significant difference was found between samples of whey drinks without milk and samples with milk addition. Fermentation by yoghurt culture did not bring statistically significant improvement of the whey drink organoleptic properties, while the addition of milk was the most important factor influencing not only the total sensory quality of the whey drinks but also their flavour, appearance, colour, viscosity and homogeneity.