Development of technology and research of properties of fermented milk product with celery

Fermented foods and beverages have nutritional and medicinal properties. Usually, the expansion of the range of fermented sour milk products is carried out in two directions: the first is the use in technology of new active leavening microorganisms, resistant to the factors of the gastric environment with a corrective effect on the intestinal microbiota; the second is the introduction of additives mainly of fruit and vegetable origin into the composition of the ready-made fermented milk product. Celery is a vegetable that can also be used to enrich a fermented milk product with necessary nutrients. After all, celery extracts have many nutraceutical properties, namely antioxidant, hypolipidemic, hypoglycemic, and antiaggregation properties. The work aimed to substantiate the need to introduce puree of celery leaves, stalks, and roots into yogurt and to develop a fermented product. During the research, generally accepted organoleptic, physicochemical, and microbiological methods were used. The scientific expediency of enriching a fermented milk product – yogurt with celery puree – has been substantiated. The addition of more than 20 % celery puree has a positive effect on the phenomenon of syneresis of the finished product since the amount of whey separated during filtration was 3–4 times less than in control. According to organoleptic indicators, the best samples were yogurts with a celery content of 25 to 30 %; besides, yogurt with celery (30 %) had a significant reserve of microbiological stability during storage at temperatures of +3 –+5 °С. In particular, this fermented milk product can be stored for 14 days without deterioration of quality and safety indicators. Therefore, it is proposed that puree from celery stalks, leaves, and roots be added to the yogurt production technology in the amount of 25–30 %. This will enrich this fermented milk product with biologically valuable dietary fibers.