Microbiological and Biochemical Characterization of Plant Based Vegan Curd
Vansh Kaushik
Department of Biotechnology and microbiology, Meerut Institute of Engineering and Technology, Meerut-250005, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Robin Kumar Pundir
Department of Biotechnology and microbiology, Meerut Institute of Engineering and Technology, Meerut-250005, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Rekha Yadav *
Department of Biotechnology and microbiology, Meerut Institute of Engineering and Technology, Meerut-250005, Uttar Pradesh, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Curd is a traditional food which is high in nutrition and helps in boosting immunity. Curd has-been consumed worldwide and has health gut bacteria that fights against harmful pathogenic bacteria. Curd is coagulated using milk. Since some people experience lactose intolerance, plant based curd is advised for their intake. In this study we will explore the good gut bacteria and other microorganisms present in the homemade vegan curd. This plant-based curd is made of peanut milk and rice milk and Green chilli pedicels are added for fermentation process that helps in curdling of milk. Peanuts are rich in antioxidants and they have health gut bacteria and fibres. Rice contains bacteria like Bacilli Green chillies consist of Lactobacilli and is also a starter for lactose fermentation. The homemade Vegan curd is rich in protein and carbohydrates. This research involved creating peanut curd from peanut milk using green chillies as a starter. Both the total bacterial count and the total yeast mold count were measured. Vegan curd, which serves as a plant-based substitute for dairy yogurt, has the potential to contain harmful microorganisms. Such contamination arises when undesirable bacteria and fungi proliferate in the product.
Keywords: Vegan curd, rice milk, lactose intolerance, antioxidant, probiotic bacteria