Utilization of high-pressure homogenization of potato protein isolate for the production of dairy-free yogurt-like fermented product

The demand for alternatives to milk-based yogurts with high acceptance and functionality has been increasing in recent years. Yet, many plant-based proteins suffer from limited techno-functional properties such as poor solubility, color, and other sensory properties. The utilization of high-pressure homogenization (HPH) has been suggested as a tool for attenuating some of these technological limitations. This work aims to study the combination of an alternative plant protein source, potato protein isolate (PPI), with the utilization of HPH for the formation of a yogurt-like fermented product without the addition of stabilizers. The utilization of HPH 200 MPa, Tin = 15 °C as a pre-processing step reduced downstream PPI sedimentation. The formation of a stable (against separation) PPI and canola oil emulsions by HPH allowed lactic acid fermentation with minimal creaming. The results show that increasing the homogenization pressure reduced the particle size, and allowed the formation of finer and whiter emulsion with improved physical stability against separation. The yogurt-like substitutes were obtained in the same time frame as milk-based yogurt and presented a gel-like behavior. The stability against phase separation of the yogurt alternative increased with increasing homogenization pressure, and the minimal phase separation was observed for the 200 MPa system. Also, the lightness value and water holding capacity of the yogurt-like substitutes obtained were similar to values reported for commercial plant-based yogurts alternatives containing stabilizers.