Freeze Drying as a Method to Produce Lyophilized Laban Immo: A Traditional Yogurt base Lebanese Recipe

Laban immo (LI) is a traditional dish which mainly contains onions, meat, starch and yogurt. Based on a registered LI recipe four powdered products with Low Fat (LF) cow- , medium fat (MF) cow-, full fat (FF) cow- and FF goat- yogurt were produced and all were subjected to freeze-drying. LI with FF- cow yogurt had the significantly lowest moisture loss (ML) but the significantly highest water activity (aw). LI powder with LF cow yogurt had the significantly lowest water activity, followed by that done with FF goat-, then with MF cow- and ended with FF cow- yogurt being the significantly highest. Concerning the pH, LI with FF goat yogurt had the significantly lowest value and the LI with MF cow yoghurt had the significantly highest value. As for protein content LI with goat yogurt had the significantly lowest value compared to LI from cow yogurt. Concerning the ash content LI with goat yogurt had the significantly highest value compared to those with cow yogurt. In this study freeze dried LI with full fat goat yogurt scored significantly the highest in the preference test followed by the LI with FF cow yogurt which was significantly higher than those with MF- and LF- cow yogurt. Triangle tests have shown that LI from natural yogurt and the reconstituted LI are sufficiently similar to be used interchangeably. Therefore, taste wise the production of LI in the powder form is possible and thus rendering it more convenient, easy to prepare and portable.