Elaboration of yogurt with reduced level of lactose added of carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.)

•The elaboration of a low-lactose yogurt added of dietetic fiber is proposed.•Carob addition allowed a total fiber content of 1.16-1.44 g/100 g•Lactose hydrolysis increases the acceptance of yogurt.•Carob enriched yogurt had a good acceptability.

The diversity of products with reduced lactose levels is still low, despite the worldwide deficiency of the β-galactosidase enzyme. Therefore, our objective was to prepare a low lactose yogurt, with the addition of carob flour. Two varieties of yogurts with carob were made: with hydrolyzed milk (HI) and with non-hydrolyzed milk (NHI). The physico-chemical analyzes were performed according to AOAC. Sugars were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography. Yogurts were evaluated for overall acceptability by a nine-point hedonic scale. Results were submitted to T test for independent samples or one-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey's test (P < 0.05). After the hydrolysis (38 °C, 120 min) and the fermentation process, lactose was reduced by 97.65% of initial content, when compared to skimmed milk. Yogurts with carob presented a content of fiber of 1.16-1.44 g/100 g. In the sensory analysis, 15.79% of the evaluators liked the low-lactose yogurt very much. This product is in accordance with Brazilian regulations to foods for special dietary requirements, as it presented less than 0.5 g/100 g of lactose.