AUTHOR=Tuganbay Aigerim , Yousefvand Amin , Saris Per Erik Joakim 

TITLE=Production of kurut (kurt) using probiotic Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG strain in combination with a yeast isolated from Kazakhstan kurut

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Food Science and Technology

VOLUME=2

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/food-science-and-technology/articles/10.3389/frfst.2022.1045579

DOI=10.3389/frfst.2022.1045579

ISSN=2674-1121

ABSTRACT=<p>Kuruts are traditional acid-coagulated fermented dairy products in semisolid or dried form. The present study used probiotic <italic>Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus</italic> GG (LGG) and <italic>Cryptococcus laurentii</italic> yeast, a kurut isolate, to make mixed-fermentation kurut. In addition, kurut was fermented with <italic>L. rhamnosus</italic> GG as starter. Kurut was also fermented with kefir grains representing a traditional way to initiate the fermentation. The viability of probiotic <italic>L. rhamnosus</italic> GG strain and physicochemical properties of semisolid kurut products were monitored during storage over 22 days at 4°C. The tested probiotic strain showed viability higher than 7 log CFU/mL in both mixed-fermentation and single-strain-fermentation kurut during storage at 4°C. When prepared with probiotic bacteria, the syneresis values of mixed-fermentation kurut were lower (<italic>p</italic> &gt; 0.05) than single-strain-fermentation kurut. The flavor and overall acceptability scores for kurut prepared using the combination of probiotic LGG and <italic>C. laurentii</italic> yeast as starter culture were higher than for the other samples at 11 days of storage (<italic>p</italic> &gt; 0.05). Taking the above into consideration, probiotic kuruts obtained by milk fermentation inoculated with co-culture of <italic>L. rhamnosus</italic> GG and <italic>C. laurentii</italic> yeast could be potential probiotic products to be produced in the dairy industry.</p>