11 International Journal of Food Research 2(1): 11-16, 2012 ISSN: 1213-0128 © IJOFR Publications, 2012 Original article Sensory Evaluation of a Vegetable Yoghurt-like Product from the African Breadfruit (Treculia africana) Seeds *Oyeyipo, OO 1 , Iwuji CA 2 and Nworgu UG 3 1, 2 Department of Microbiology, University of Port Harcourt, P.M.B. 5323, Port Harcourt, Nigeria 3 Department of Microbiology, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria ABSTRACT: A vegetable yoghurt-like product (ukwa yoghurt) was produced by lactic fermentation of filtered slurry of freshly dehulled African breadfruit (Treculia africana) seeds. The pH of sample decreased from 5.72±0.06 to 4.47±0.04 during fermentation time while titratable acidity (expressed as g lactic acid/100g sample) increased from 0.18±0.03 to 0.69±0.02. Proximate analysis shows that the freshly produced ukwa yoghurt was composed of 89.74±0.4% moisture, 0.93±0.5% ash, 3.95±0.3% protein, 1.76±0.5% fat and 3.62±0.1% carbohydrate. Ukwa yoghurt, Soy yoghurt and a brand of commercially produced cow’s milk yoghurt (Fan yoghurt) were subjected to sensory evaluation. Overall, ukwa yoghurt compared favourably (p=0.05) with the soy and cow’s milk yoghurts, 7.5±0.02, 7.3±0.03 and 7.8±0.02, respectively. The shelf life of the product was 72 hours under refrigeration condition (4±2 o C). The African breadfruit seed could therefore, adequately serve as an alternative vegetable yoghurt substrate, thus enhancing its utilization. Key words: Treculia africana, Vegetable yoghurt, Sensory, Utilization INTRODUCTION Yoghurt is a semi-solid diary product produced by lactic fermentation. In the United States, to be named yoghurt, the product must be made with the following bacterial species, Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus. Usually, these two bacteria are co-cultured with other lactic acid bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus casei for their probiotic effect and taste (Okafor, 2007; Wikipedia, 2008). In most countries, a product may be called yoghurt if the final product contains live bacteria. In the United States, non-pasteurized yoghurt can be sold as “live” or containing “live active cultures”. A small amount of live yoghurt can be used to inoculate a new batch of yoghurt. It has been reported that the quality of commercial yoghurt is determined by its potential to serve as a starter culture for home-made yoghurt (Campion, 1995). Yoghurt is usually produced from cow’s milk but yoghurt substitute has been produced from soybean and is commercially available. Among the sources of vegetable yoghurt, soybean has received very high research attentions. Soy yoghurt compares favourably with cow’s milk yoghurt in nutritional composition (Enwere, 1998) and more research is being designed to improve the quality of soy products. However, relatively little attention has been given to bambara groundnut (Obizoba and Egbuna, 1992), peanut (Odo, 2001), melon seed (Akubor, 1998) and African breadfruit (Treculia africana) seed (Oyeyipo, 2011). African breadfruit (Treculia africana) is a member of the family moracea; it is indigenous, popularly called ‘Ukwa’ and widely grown in the southern states of Nigeria for its seeds but under-utilized. The seeds have been found to contain high quality protein (17.5%), fat (2.3%), Carbohydrate (73%) (Osabor and Okafor, 2009). It is thought that the seeds could be processed into new products, in the same way that soybeans are used in oriental diets. This study therefore reports the production and evaluation of a vegetable yoghurt-like product (ukwa yoghurt) from the African breadfruit (Treculia africana) seed, and is the second in the series of steps aimed at enhancing its utilization. *Corresponding author: Oyeyipo,OO, Department of Microbiology, University of Port Harcourt, P.M.B. 5323, Choba, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Email: mails4tim1@yahoo.com , Tel: +2347033395577, +2347065955666