Influence of Health Beneficial Monk Fruit Sweetener on Microbial and Physicochemical Characteristics of Camel Milk Yogurt

Camel milk contains all the essential nutrients found in cow’s milk and has potentially health beneficial compounds such as anti-carcinogenic, anti-hypertensive, anti-inflammatory, and insulin and insulin-like substances. Camel milk has been reported as a treatment for diseases such as diabetes and autism. Camel milk favorably alters gut microbiota to a higher abundance of bifidobacteria. Sweetness is one of the most desirable tastes in people’s diet; however, the surplus consumption of sugar has a negative effect on human health. Monk fruit sweetener is a natural zero caloric sweetener with many health beneficial properties, namely, prevention of asthma, prevention of oxidation, liver protection, regulation of immune function, cancer prevention, lowering glucose levels, and diabetes prevention. Sweetness of monk fruit sweetener is from 100 to 250 times that of sucrose. The objective was to study the influence of different concentrations of monk fruit sweetener on the microbiological and physicochemical properties of camel milk drinking yogurt. Monk fruit sweetener was added in the amount of 0, 0.42, 1.27, and 2.54 g/L of camel milk to manufacture camel milk drinking yogurt, which was stored for 42 days. The physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of yogurts were measured weekly. For the physicochemical characteristics, pH, titratable acidity, viscosity, and color (L*, a*, b*, C*, and h*) values were evaluated. The counts of Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, coliforms, and yeast and mold were determined. Three replications were conducted. Monk fruit sweetener did not affect the growth of Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, probiotic culture Lactobacillus acidophilus but significantly influenced pH, viscosity, and color (a*, b*, C*, and h*) values. Compared to control, the samples containing 1.27 and 2.54 g/L of monk fruit sweetener had significantly lower pH, higher viscosity, higher b*, C*, and lower h* values. Monk fruit sweetener can be used as a health beneficial sweetener in camel milk yogurts