EVALUATING THE EFFECTS OF MESOPHILIC STARTER CULTURES ON TEXTURE AND CONSUMER ACCEPTABILITY OF FERMENTED CAMEL MILK

The aims of this study were to evaluate effects of mesophilic starter cultures, camel milk powder (CMP) and microbial transglutaminase (MTGase) on the texture, viscosity, sensory and physicochemical properties of fermented camel milk.The experiment was designed as a full factor experiment with two starter cultures (R-707 and CHN-22), two levels of CMP (with and without) and two levels of MTGase (with and without). The analyses of fermented camel milk weremade for their physicochemical, sensory and textural properties as well as for their viscosity. Thefermented camel milk produced usingCHN-22 starter culture with MTGase was significantly (P < 0.05) lower in titratable acidity as compared to that produced using CHN-22 starter culture without MTGase.R-707 starter culture resulted in fermented milk which was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in cohesiveness and adhesiveness than CHN-22 starter culture.The addition of CMP significantly (P < 0.05) decreased the firmness, cohesiveness and adhesiveness of the fermented camel milk. The firmness of fermented camel milk produced without both CMP and MTGase was significantly (P < 0.05)higher than that produced with CMP and without MTGase.The cohesiveness of the fermented camel milk was significantly (P < 0.05) higher when made using R-707and MTGase compared to using CHN-22.The use of R-707 starter culture with addition of CMP significantly (P < 0.05) decreased the aroma of the fermented camel milk as compared to R-707 starter culture without CMP. The viscosity of the fermented camel milk produced using CHN-22 starter culture with addition of CMP was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that madeusing R-707 starter culture with addition of CMP. Also, the use of CHN-22 starter culture with MTGase had significantly (P < 0.05) improved the viscosity of the fermented camel milk. The fermented camel milk produced by the addition of CMP was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in viscosity than that of without CMP. In general, the addition of CMP did not improve (even had a negative effect on) the textural attributes of the fermented camel milk samples. Addition of MTGase had improved all the textural attributes of the fermented camel milk samples