QandAs: Food

What is Yoghurt?

Answer:
Yoghurt is defined as the milk-based dairy product

which is produced by the bacterial fermentation of the milk under normal environmental conditions.

Yoghurt is prepared through the process of fermentation of milk which is carried out by beneficial bacteria like Lactobacillus acidophilus, or Lactobacillus bulgaricus or Streptococcus thermophilis. The mammals whose milk can be utilized for the preparation of Yoghurt are buffalo, cow, goat, sheep and even camels. Yoghurt is quite cheaper and easy to prepare even at home.

Yoghurt is very beneficial to health as it contains nutrients like Protein, Calcium, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6 and Vitamin B12. Therefore it is also sold in the market as the commercial product. It is available in the market in varying amount of fat content so one has a choice to choose it according to his/her health condition. Yoghurt can be consumed along with other ingredients like Fruits, jams, onions, etc to enhance its taste.

Yoghurt can be present either as watery-fluid or as semi-solid form. The thickness of the Yoghurt can be increased by adding small amount of pectin or gelatin. There are various uses of the Yoghurt which include as a Probiotic Agent, enhancing gum health, in treatment of Diarrhea, Acid Reflux as well as in preventing Vulvovaginal Candidiasis, etc. Yoghurt can be consumed by even those individuals who are lactose-intolerant. According to a recent research published in the International Journal of Obesity consumption of the Low-Fat Yoghurt can promote the weight loss.

In US, National Yoghurt Association (NYA) aims to define the criteria for the presence of about 100 million cultures of bacteria in 1 gram of refrigerated Yoghurt products and 10 million cultures of bacteria in 1 gram of frozen Yoghurt products.