Essential oils nanoemulsion for the flavoring of functional stirred yogurt: Manufacturing, physicochemical, microbiological, and sensorial investigation

Stirred yogurt (SY) is preferred by different category of consumers due to its creamy mouthfeel and pourable texture, which make it an attractive dairy drink. In the current study, the authors developed a special SY which is naturally flavored using different essential oils nanoemulsions and functionalized using lactic acid bacteria. The particle size of the nanoemulsions was 106 cfu/ml. Therefore, they were applied as supplements to the flavored SY during manufacture to enhance its functionality. The different rheological and physicochemical evaluations conducted on the developed SY indicates no effect of the EOs nanoemulsion on the general characteristics of SY along a storage period of 15 days. Overall sensory evaluation showed that all fresh EOs-flavored SY got highly preferred scores, however, at the end of storage period only lemongrass-flavored SY kept that score, while the other flavored samples were judged as preferred. The order of preference was lemongrass first followed by cinnamon, mint and clove. The article gives an insight on the application of EO nanoemulsions for developing naturally flavored functional dairy products especially stirred yogurt.