Fermented Dairy Ingredients 34310 billion probiotics and are also a source
of prebiotics. In addition, they contain whole
grains, nuts, and dried fruits (Anon 2008 ).Cottage Cheese
Cottage cheese is a fresh, particulate, and
slightly acidic cheese made by fermentation
of skim milk using lactic - acid - producing
bacteria. The fl avor of cottage cheese ranges
from bland to sharp, with overtones of diace-
tyl (Kosikowski and Mistry 1997 ). In the
United States, cottage cheese is made by
mixing cottage cheese dry curd with a cream-
ing mixture consisting of milk or other milk
derivatives. The fi nal products must contain
not less than 4% (by weight) milk fat and
not more than 80% moisture content. The
cottage cheese dry curd consists of one or
more of the following dairy ingredients:
sweet skim milk, concentrated skim milk,
and nonfat dry milk. Harmless lactic - acid -
producing bacteria with or without rennet
and/or other suitable enzymes are added to
coagulate the mixture until the pH reaches
4.5 to 4.7 (FDA 2008 ). Salt and fresh or
cultured cream is generally added to the
cheese. Distinctive features of the product
are its granular form and, despite its low
fat content, its creamy fl avor (Walstra et al.
2006 ).Cottage Cheese Formulation
The main ingredient in cottage cheese manu-
facture is skim milk. The lactic - acid - produc-
ing bacteria used include Lc. lactis subsp.
lactis or Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris as the
main acid producers and Leuc. mesenteroides
subsp. cremoris as the main fl avor producers.
A little rennet containing chymosin is usually
added to enhance whey expulsion during
heating and to improve texture and fi rmness
(Kosikowski and Mistry 1997 ). The concen-
tration of culture is 5% to 6% for a short - set
process or 0.25% to 1% for a long - set process
(Walstra et al. 2006 ).Strained yogurt is a traditional food with
a cheese - like texture but the specifi c acidic
taste of yogurt. It may be considered as an
intermediate between conventional fer-
mented milks and high - moisture, unripened
soft cheese such as quark (Varnam and
Sutherland 2001 ). It is usually consumed
with bread as part of the main meal (Tait
2005 ). In Greece, strained yogurt is made
mainly from sheep or goat milk and is used
as a base for preparation of a dip called
tzatziki, a mixture of strained yogurt with
olive oil, cucumber, garlic, salt, pepper, dill,
and sometimes lemon juice, parsley, and
mint.
Yogurt Bars
Yogurt bars are various products that contain
yogurt, dried yogurt, or frozen yogurt. They
include cereal yogurt bars, frozen yogurt bars,
and probiotic yogurt bars. Cereal yogurt bars
are mostly yogurt - topped or yogurt - coated
cereal or muesli bars (O ’ Donnell 2002 , Anon
2002 ) that come in various fl avors. The man-
ufacturing steps of these bars include baking
of the yogurt - topped or coated bars; hence,
dried products are obtained (www.recipes.
eu.com/recepi92.html) that can be stored at
ambient temperatures. The yogurt used for
this purpose can either be plain or powdered.
Other ingredients such as egg and fl our are
added to increase viscosity and aid drying.
Dried powdered yogurt offers advantages
over plain yogurt because it has a longer shelf
life and is aimed toward the do - it - yourself
market, baby food manufacturers, and food
and baking industry (Tamime 2003 ).
Frozen yogurt bars are yogurt - coated
products of various fl avors with cereal coat-
ing. Low - fat yogurt and sorbet with fruit
fl avors coated with cereal or sandwiched
between wafers are available (Anon 2006 ).
Yogurt containing active yogurt cultures
as well as probiotic cultures has also been
incorporated into bars, either dried or frozen.
The probiotic yogurt bars contain more than