Impact of honey on quality characteristics of goat yogurt containing probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus

•Goat yoghurts containing stingless bee honey and/or L. acidophilus were formulated.•Added honey and L. acidophilus influenced positive quality characteristic of goat yoghurt.•Added honey improved technological and sensory attributes of goat yoghurt.•The formulated yoghurt is a suitable vehicle for probiotic L. acidophilus delivery.

This study aimed to analyze the influence of adding stingless bee honey (produced by Melipona scutellaris Latrelle - uruçu) on the technological, physicochemical and sensory characteristics of goat yogurt containing probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus La-05 during 28 days of refrigerated storage. Four formulations of goat yogurt were prepared, each varying in the added stingless bee honey amount [(0%, 5%, 10% and 15% (v/v)], but all inoculated with the probiotic L. acidophilus La-05 (0.1 g/L of goat milk). The incorporation of stingless bee honey positively affected several characteristics in goat yogurt containing L. acidophilus La-05, namely the color, syneresis, viscosity, sensory acceptance and purchase intention. All yogurt formulations presented counts of L. acidophilus La-05 above 6.0 log cfu/g by 28 days of storage, but the presence of honey increased the counts (ca. 1 log cfu/g) of L. acidophilus La-05 and yogurt starter bacteria until 21 days of storage. The results of this study presented a successful incorporation of both the probiotic L. acidophilus La-05 and the honey produced by a native Brazilian stingless bee as ingredients of a new goat dairy product with satisfactory nutritional and sensory quality and added market value because of its potential functional properties.