Fermented acidophilus goat's milk suppelmented with inulin: comparison with cow's milk

Fermented acidophilus goat's milk supplemented with inulin was prepared. The population growth of probiotic strain Lactobacillus acidophilus La5 in plain and inulin supplemented goat's milk during fermentation was evaluated, and the survival of La5 strain during 28 d of storage was followed in comparison with that of cow's milk. The fatty acid and protein composition of goat's and cow's milk products were determined as well. The time required to reach the desired pH of 4.6 during fermentation was 8.25 h for goat's and 10.30 h for cow's milk. At this time 1 ml of fermented goat's and cow's milks contained 5.5 x 10 8 and 1.2 x 10 9 viable cells of La5, respectively. A sharp decrease in viable count of La5 was observed in fermented goat's milk during storage. However, after 3 weeks it still contained over 10 6/ml viable cells. The addition of inuIin improved the firmness of fermented goat's and cow's milks, but did not influence the growth and survival of La5. Goat's milk contained higher percentage of capric (11.8 wt%) and Iauric (6.6 wt%) fatty acids and Iower percentage of myristic (12.5 wt%) and palmitic (27.4 wt%) acids than cow's milk (3.8 wt%, 4.7 wt%, 13.8 wt% and 36.1 wt%, respectively). Goat's milk fermented with probiotic bacteria and fortified with inulin complies with the requirements of functional food. Inulin partly masked the goat's flavour of fermented acidophilus milk.