Abstract-Recent research focuses on health benefits of phytochemicals, especially antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of phenolic compounds, which is known to exert preventive activity against infectious and degenerative diseases, inflammation and allergies via antioxidant, antimicrobial and proteins/enzymes neutralization/modulation mechanisms. Phenolic compounds are reactive metabolites in a wide range of plant-derived foods and mainly divided in four groups: phenolic acids, flavonoids, stilbenes and tannins. They work as terminators of free radicals and chelators of metal ions that are capable of catalyzing lipid oxidation. Therefore, this review examines the functional properties of phenolics.

In this study, the changes during storage in the physicochemical, textural and sensory properties of nonfat yoghurts fortified with whey proteins, namely whey protein concentrates (WPC), whey protein isolates and whey protein hydrolysates, were investigated. Enrichment of nonfat yoghurt with the whey protein additives (1% w/v) had a noticeable effect on pH, titratable acidity, syneresis, water‐holding capacity, protein contents and colour values on the 14th day of storage (P < 0.01). The addition of whey proteins to the yoghurt milk led to increases in the hardness, cohesiveness and elasticity values, resulting in improved textural properties. The addition of WPC improved the texture of set‐type nonfat yoghurt with greater sizes in the gel network as well as lower syneresis and higher water holding capacity. This study suggests that the addition of whey protein additives used for fortification of yoghurt gave the best textural and sensory properties that were maintained constant during the shelf life.

In this study, the changes in the physicochemical, textural and sensory properties of nonfat yogurts fortified with milk proteins; namely sodium caseinate (Na‐CN), calcium caseinate (Ca‐CN) and milk protein concentrates (MPCs) were investigated. Enrichment of nonfat yogurt with the milk protein additives had a noticeable effect on pH, titratable acidity, whey separation, water holding capacity (WHC), protein contents and color values as well as textural attributes such as hardness, adhesiveness and cohesiveness (P < 0.01). It can be seen that the addition of milk proteins have increased the WHC and decreased whey separation. Using milk proteins in yogurt manufacturing processes caused a more compact structure consisting of stiff casein particles and large aggregates along with increased hardness which also increase cohesiveness and elasticity values resulting in improved textural properties. Also chromatic parameters (L*, a*, b*, ΔE, h*, and C*), were affected by protein supplementation. The taste of samples enriched with milk proteins were more appreciated than control yogurt. These findings confirm that milk protein additives can play a beneficial role in improving textural properties of set type nonfat yogurt and can be used to develop functional dairy products. Practical Applications Yogurt is a popular fermented milk product of the human diet, due to their high nutritional value and their appealing sensory and textural properties. Textural properties of yogurt are known to have an important parameter on sensory and acceptability of yogurt. However, reduction of fat and total solids content in low fat and nonfat yogurts, exhibit weak texture, poor sensory properties. The aim of this study was to search the effects of using milk proteins on physicochemical, textural and sensory properties of nonfat yogurts. The results indicated that milk proteins caused an increase in density of the protein matrix with the structural building properties and improved textural properties.

The effect of sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill) flour in stimulating the growth of probiotic bacteria in fermented skim milk produced with different probiotic strains, namely Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. rhamnosus and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis was evaluated. Microbial counts, pH, total titratable acidity (LA %) and syneresis were measured in fermented skim milk samples. Additionally, the antioxidant capacities of the samples were measured by Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), free radical scavenging activity (DPPH), and Ferric Reducing‐antioxidant Power (FRAP) assays. The viability and growth proportion index (GPI) of L. rhamnosus were significantly higher than those of L. acidophilus and B. lactis in all samples during storage. Results indicated that all probiotic fermented milks enriched with chestnut flour displayed significant probiotic viability (>7 log10 cfu/g) with high antioxidant capacities. L. acidophilus, L. rhamnosus and B. lactis survived throughout the shelf life of the chestnut‐fermented skim milk, and remain at this satisfactory viability level even after 21 days of storage. The antioxidant capacity and phenolic contents were dependent on probiotic strains used. Practical applications Nowadays the focus is rather on the effects of foods on maintenance of health, well‐being and prevention of certain diseases than simply satisfaction of appetite or nutrition. The consumers’ health consciousness due to the scientific knowledge of the interactions between diet and health is a driving factor to develop products with health‐related claims such as probiotic foods. This paper investigated the effects of chestnut flour supplementation not only on viability of probiotic bacteria but also the antioxidant capacity and phenolic contents in fermented milk throughout predicted shelf life. The results indicated that chestnut flour could be used as prebiotic for further researches to develop dairy products to deliver probiotics.

In this study fruit based (apple and bluberry) fermented dairy beverages were made with L. acidophilus and L. rhamnosus. Viability of probiotic bacteria and sensory analysis were determined. The type of fruit and probiotic bacteria used were significantly effective on microbiological and sensory properties of fermented beverage (p<0.01). The growth proportion index (GPI) of L. rhamnosus was significantly higher than L. acidophilus in all samples during storage. In this study, both Lactobacillus strains showed good probiotic viability (>7 log cfu g -1 ) and remain at this satisfactory viability levels even after 28 days of storage. All the products were evaluated with high sensory scores.  Index Terms-dairy beverage, prozbiotic, lactobacillus spp.