<div>Background: As NASA plans to increase the number of Indian astronauts for future space missions, there is a pressing need for space-friendly food options that meet specific dietary requirements. This study addresses this need by developing a yogurt mix incorporating finger millet (Eleusine coracana) and strawberries (Fragaria x ananassa), designed to be rich in calcium and suitable for space conditions. 
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Methods: The yogurt was cultured with Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus and various formulations were tested: T1 (50% yogurt, 50% finger millet slurry, 50% strawberry puree), T2 (50% yogurt, 50% finger millet slurry, 25% strawberry puree), T3 (50% yogurt, 25% finger millet slurry, 25% strawberry puree) and T4 as a control (standard yogurt). 
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Result: Nutritional analysis of the yogurt mix revealed 5 g protein, 7 g fat, 420 kcal, 82.26 g carbohydrates, 29.5 mg Vitamin C and 241.5 mg calcium per serving. Freeze-drying preserved microbial viability (above 10^7 CFU/g). Sensory evaluation with 15 panelists indicated acceptable taste and quality. PCA was also interpreted on the attributes to find the appropriate formulation. Proximate and physicochemical analyses confirmed the mix met nutritional and stability standards, offering a space-friendly, long-lasting option for astronauts&rsquo; dietary needs during extended missions.</div>

Formulation, Standardization and Microbial Viability Analysis of a Calcium-enriched, Millet-based Freeze-dried Yogurt Mix Incorporating Strawberry for Long-term Space Missions

Bioactive yogurt an innovative functional dairy food refers to the incorporation of bioactive components from aloe vera to promote better health. The process parameters like incubation temperature, percentage of (total solids, starter culture and bioactive component) were optimized based on the incubation time and quality of the developed bioactive yogurt. The optimized process parameters were 4 hours Incubation time, 43&deg;C Incubation temperature, 23 % Total Solids, 1 % Aloe vera and &nbsp; 2 % Starter cultures (L.lactis : L.acidophilus). The quality parameters such as hardness, firmness, cohesiveness, consistency and the index of viscosity of bioactive yogurt were found to be 10.5 g, 69.97 g, -17.29 g, 366.29 g mm, -5.89 g mm respectively. The pH and the titratable acidity were found to be 4.59 and 0.96, respectively. The microbial analysis revealed that the bioactive yogurt had a shelf life of 12 days under refrigerated condition with overall acceptability of 7.&nbsp; 
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Development of yogurt with bioactive molecules

<div>Background: Yogurt is one of the most popular fermented dairy products worldwide which has great consumer acceptability due to its health benefits other than its basic nutrition. Yogurt is a rich source of calcium in bio-available form and also acts as a probiotic carrier food. Yogurt is reported to be beneficial for the treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) that includes gastrointestinal disorders. Because of these known health benefits of yogurt, consumer demand for yogurt and yogurt related products has been increased and became the fastest growing dairy category in the global market. Notably, India ranks first in psyllium husk (isabgol) production and is the sole supplier of seeds and husk in the international market. Among medicinal plants, psyllium is the first ranked foreign exchange earner for the country. India is the largest producer and the main supplier of seed and husk to the world market. The psyllium is high in soluble fibre content with detoxing effect over digestive system makes it a very apt nutraceutical. 
 
Methods: The present investigation indicates utilization of acid modified psyllium husk for the preparation of probiotic frozen yogurt. The prepared probiotic frozen yogurt was analyzed for sensorial, physicochemical and microbial quality parameters. Probiotic frozen yogurt was prepared from 1 liter buffalo milk, 10 gm sugar and 0.5 gm of acid modified psyllium husk (0.60% HCl in the ethanol solvent with ratio of 1:7). The probiotic culture (107, 108, 109 cfu/gm) containing equal proportions of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus plantarum were added in encapsulated form. It was then stored at refrigerated conditions at 4&deg;C for 8 hours. 
 
Result: The organoleptic evaluation of probiotic frozen yogurt was carried out. As per the score of 9-point hedonic scale, probiotic frozen yogurt prepared with 10 per cent encapsulated probiotic culture (109 cfu/gm and 5 per cent each of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus plantarum) and 0.5 gm of acid modified psyllium husk had shown maximum consumer acceptability (8.7) among all samples.</div>

Studies on Development of Fibre Rich Probiotic Frozen Yogurt

Background: Despite the widespread consumption and economic significance of Greek yogurt, there are no universally recognized standards. This has resulted in variations in its nutritional composition, production methods, and labeling practices, leading to inconsistencies in quality across brands and markets. This study investigates the physicochemical, microbial, and sensory properties of plain and flavored Greek yogurts produced in Oman to address consumer preferences and establish quality benchmarks. 
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Methods: Physicochemical analyses were conducted to measure density, moisture, fat, protein, Ash, pH, acidity, total solids, non-fat solids, color and viscosity of plain and flavored Greek yogurts. Microbial assessments were performed to determine total viable counts, yeast and mold, E. coli&nbsp;and S. aureus. While sensory evaluations were carried out to assess aroma, color, texture, flavor, acidity, sweetness, and overall acceptability. 
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Result: Flavored yogurts exhibited lower moisture content (71.69-72.32%) compared to plain yogurt (77.87%), contributing to a creamier texture. Fat content varied by flavor, with peach and apricot yogurt containing the highest level (5.475%), while plain yogurt had the highest protein content (2.35%). Flavored variants showed increased acidity (1.037-1.110%) and higher viscosity (32,965-34,400 cP), enhancing their sensory appeal. Microbial analyses confirmed the safety of all samples, with lower total viable counts in flavored yogurts attributed to the antimicrobial properties of fruit acids. Sensory evaluations revealed that strawberry yogurt was the most preferred, scoring highest in flavor, sweetness, and overall acceptability (93.3% acceptability index). These findings underscore the importance of optimizing sensory attributes and product formulations to improve consumer satisfaction in the dairy industry.

The Quality of Plain and Flavored Greek Yogurt

<div>Background: Under nutrition is a condition due to insufficient intake of energy and nutrients to meet an individual&rsquo;s needs to maintain good health. Cereals and millets based supplementary foods represents good source of essential nutrients. Recently, millets are tagged as nutri-cereals and its health promoting benefits are attracting consumers worldwide. The current study was aimed to develop millet based ready-to-use composite mix and to evaluate its quality in terms of usage in various traditional foods and shelf life. 
 
Methods: RTU composite mix was developed using locally available cereals, millets, pulses and oilseeds. The nutrient composition of developed mix was analyzed. The traditional region specific foods namely Dose, roti and Mudde (Ragi ball) was prepared and subjected for sensory evaluation. Further mix was stored up to three months at room temperature and evaluated for microbial load, moisture, free fatty acid and peroxide value. 
 
Result: Protein, fat, carbohydrate and energy content of the mix were 18.5g, 9.56g, 58.21 g and 393.24 kcal per 100 g respectively. Roti was best accepted (7.63), followed by mudde (7.50) and dose (7.03). Free Fatty Acid (FFA) was increased from 1.08 per cent to 1.56 per cent oleic acid, whereas peroxide value (PV) was increased from 7.46 to 9.35 mEq O2/kg of oil during storage. Total bacterial count (TBC) was increased from 4.5 X 102 to 8.1 X 103. The developed RTU mix which has nutritional potential needs to be popularized to address under nutrition and for overall good health of the society.</div>

​Nutritional Composition and Shelf Life Evaluation of Millet based Composite Mix

<div style="text-align: justify;">The state fruit of Kerala, jack, is a miraculous fruit due to its nutrient profile, health benefits and greater potential for value addition. It can be better utilised if consumer acceptable products are prepared from this fruit. The growing demand for &quot;healthy food&quot; is stimulating the innovation and development of new products nationally and internationally. Yogurt, a milk-based product, is a healthy food which offers high nutritional value with concentrated amounts of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. The added value of yogurt over milk lies in the presence of beneficial bacteria as well as certain bioactive components. The study was aimed at developing a low-fat yogurt. Hence in this study, yogurts were prepared by incorporating varying proportions of blanched jackfruit pulp (10%, 20%, and 30%) along with equal volumes of homogenized and skimmed milk. Both koozha and varikka variety of jackfruits were prepared. The jackfruit bulbs were steam blanched for five minutes and pulped to prepare the yogurt. Plain yogurt served as the control. The prepared yogurts were organoleptically evaluated using a 9 point hedonic scale with a panel of 15 judges. The selection of the best sample was done based on Kendall&#39;s coefficient of concordance. Among the fruit yogurts, the yogurt with 30% jackfruit pulp scored maximum for the sensory attributes. Chemical parameters like pH, moisture, fat, protein, crude fiber and a total ash content of the yogurts were determined.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Standardization and Quality Evaluation of Jackfruit based Low Fat Yogurt</div>

Excessive aggression between weaned piglets after mixing is a welfare and production issue resulting in stress, injuries and economic losses. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of former acquaintance (FA) on aggression, lesion and growth performance in weaned, mixed piglets. The results showed that the FA group significantly reduced the number of fights, time spent fighting, number of bullying events, lesions, the average injury scores of the front site and middle site of weaned piglets after mixing. A significant interaction was found between the effects of sex and treatment on the number of fights won and bullying events, between the effects of days post-weaning and treatment on the lesion scores as well as between the effect of the lesion sites and treatments on the lesion score for all three days after mixing. The results suggested a potential welfare advantage to allow litters to have some acquaintance before weaning.

Effects of former acquaintance on aggression, lesion and growth performance in weaned piglets after mixing

<div style="text-align: justify;">Background: Reducing the sugar content of processed products has been claimed to be one of the most efficient strategies for decreasing sugar intake. To investigate what level of sugar reduction is accepted in set-type yogurt, we conducted a hedonic test focusing on the sensory attributes and assessed the nutritional quality of the yogurt.&nbsp; Methods: We prepared a total of 12 set-type yogurt samples using four sugar concentrations (viz. 0, 4, 5 and 12%). The starter culture was used as a 1:1 ratio mixture of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus. The sensorial, chemical and microbiological analyses were performed. Result: From the investigation, yogurt containing at least 4 and 5% added sugar was found acceptable based on overall sensory score. On the hedonic scale, yogurt containing 12% sugar was more often described as too sweet compared with yogurt containing 4 and/or 5% sugar. On the other hand, the sweetness and aroma intensity for yogurt containing 0% sugar was judged as too low. The 4 and 5% added sugar yogurt was recorded highest with protein content 4.35 and 4.53%, respectively. The initial total viable count (TVC) of the yogurt made was found highest in 4 and 5% sugar yogurt each with &raquo; 5 log10 cfu/mL. These results indicate that consumers would accept set-type yogurts with 4 to 5% added sugar instead of 12 to 15%, but 0 to 3% sugar would be too low.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Optimization of Sugar Reduction in the Formulation of Set-type Yogurt Using Pure Lactic Acid Bacterial Culture</div>

<div>Background: The year round green forage supply for better health and productivity of the animals can be ensured by mixed cropping of cereal and legume forages along with proper nutrient management. Keeping these facts in mind an experiment was carried out to analyse growth, productivity and profitability of fodder sorghum and clusterbean as influenced by mixed cropping and nutrient management. 
 
Methods: Experiment was laid out in factorial randomized complete block design with four seed rate combinations of sorghum and clusterbean (S1 - sole sorghum, S2 - sole clusterbean, S3 - 75% sorghum + 25% clusterbean and S4 - 60% sorghum + 40% clusterbean) along with six nutrient management treatments (N1 - 100% RDF, N2 - 100% RDF + PGPR, N3 - 100% RDF + seaweed extract, N4 - 75% RDF + PGPR, N5 - 75% RDF + seaweed extract and N6 &ndash; 50% RDF + PGPR + seaweed extract) in three replications. The growth of crops was evaluated in terms of plant height, leaf length, leaf width, number of leaves, leaf stem ratio and stem girth which all together contributed towards the fodder yield. 
 
Result: In sorghum crop the growth was not statistically different between the treatments S1 and S3 but in clusterbean sole crop recorded higher growth yet the influence was not significant on all parameters. Among nutrient management N1, N2 and N3 treatments recorded higher growth and thus yield in both crops which was not statistically different from N5 treatment. The correlation study indicated that cumulative influence of these growth parameters resulted in higher green and dry fodder yield under sole crop. Whereas in mixed cropping S3 treatment recorded significantly at par fodder yield to S1. The evidence presented above shows that 75% sorghum + 25% clusterbean mixed cropping treatment with 75% RDF + seaweed extract served its purpose of fodder yield enhancement.</div>

<div>Growth, Productivity and Profitability of Fodder Sorghum and Cluster Bean as Influenced by Mixed Cropping and Nutrient Management</div>

Background: Finger millet is an inevitable traditional climate-smart crop of Jharkhand, which has the potential to address the problem of malnutrition on a sustainable basis. However, despite its nutritional and health potential, it is on the verge of extinction. The revival of finger millet in the daily diet of people requires diversification of the products suiting to the changing needs of the consumers. Rapid industrialization and urbanization and changes in the eating habits of Indian people led to a very high demand for convenience mix. Therefore, an attempt was made to develop a low-cost finger millet-based burfi and halwa mix and evaluate the nutritional quality of the mixes. 
 
Methods: Two types of burfi mix and&nbsp;halwa mix were developed by using ragi malt or ragi semolina, wheat and germinated green gram supplemented with milk powder, groundnut, etc. Developed products were subjected to sensory evaluation on a 9-point Hedonic scale and analyzed for proximate composition, calcium, iron, phosphorus, copper, zinc, and &szlig;-carotene by standard methods.&nbsp; 
 
Result: All products were found acceptable. Both experimental burfi and halwa mixes were found superior in terms of protein, fiber, calcium, phosphorus, iron, copper and zinc.