Designing Functional Dairy Food Products: Peptide-Fortification Approaches to Improve Safety, Quality, and Consumer Acceptance

Abstract

This study focused on the development of functional dairy products fortified with bioactive peptides derived from Lactobacillus rhamnosus C25-fermented sheep milk and their evaluation during storage. Microencapsulated peptides were incorporated into flavoured milk and srikhand, and their antimicrobial, antioxidant, and sensory properties were monitored over refrigerated storage. Flavoured milk supplemented with free peptides exhibited strong antimicrobial activity, while encapsulated peptides provided a controlled and sustained release, maintaining functionality over six days. In srikhand, both plain and mango-flavoured formulations demonstrated enhanced biofunctional properties, with encapsulated peptides showing gradual peptide release, higher antioxidant activity, and better preservation of sensory quality over 15 days. Sheep milk used for fermentation showed good microbial quality, supporting safe peptide production. Fermentation yielded peptide fractions ( View larger version (35K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1c368bdorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@118db8org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@6f4addorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@9c2ddc_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG