Effect of Sweet Potato Starch Addition on the Proximate Composition, Energy Content and Sensory Properties of Stirred Yoghurts

The proximate composition, energy content and sensory properties of stirred yoghurts stabilized with sweet potato starch were studied. The stirred yoghurt was prepared from whole milk powder and other basic ingredients. The product obtained after fermentation was divided into five equal portions and then stabilized by the addition of sweet potato starch at the levels of 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 % to produce different samples of yoghurt. The stirred yoghurts produced were analysed for proximate composition, energy content and sensory qualities using standard methods. The results of the proximate composition and energy content of the samples showed that the samples contained, 77.58 - 82.62 % moisture, 5.48 - 6.96 % crude protein, 4.08 - 6.54 % fat, 0.76 - 1.14 % ash, 0.56 - 0.78 % crude fibre, 3.12 - 11.32 % carbohydrate and 93.64 105.62KJ/100g energy, respectively. The sensory evaluation showed that the plain or unstabilized yoghurt used as control was most acceptable by the judges and also differed significantly (pless than0.05) from the other samples in colour and palatability. However, the sample stabilized with 30 % sweet potato starch was scored highest in flavour and texture.