In the current study, yogurts containing instant stevia powder (ISP) at varying proportions (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 g/100 mL) were perused in terms of physicochemical attributes, textural behavior, antioxidant activity, and sensory acceptability during 14 day storage at 4 °C. For this, bioactive components extracted by using microwave-assisted system were spray dried in optimum conditions (11 mL/min flow rate and 167 °C inlet air temperature) and then incorporated into yogurts. The minimal syneresis value (17.09 g/100 g) at the day of 14 was detected in ISP (0.4 g/100 mL)-supplemented yogurts while this value was reached to 19.45 g/100 g in control counterpart without stevia powder. Enriching yogurts with powders was a plausible way for boosting their mechanical properties. The antioxidative parameters namely total phenolic content (TPC), DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, and CUPRAC values were tendency to increase with ISP increment in yogurts. Low scores in sensory evaluation were detected in yogurts loaded with ISP above a certain amount (more than 0.2 g/100 mL). Sum up, the findings proved that the hypotheses (fabricating innovative dairy product rich in bioactive substances and maintaining quality parameters of yogurts during storage) predicted for this study were successfully achieved.
Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13197-023-05892-z.
Keywords: Functional dairy product; Instant stevia powder; Spray drying; Textural behavior; Yogurt.
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