Agriculture & Food, Volume 3, 2015

Abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the impact of the bioactive ingredient – oat β-glucan – on the quality characteristics of the fermented milk products (kefir, yogurt and fermented milk beverages) made on buttermilk-skimmed milk mixture base and establish the influence of the consumption of one of them on the health characteristics of volunteers. The enrichment of fermented milk products with 0.6 % oat β-glucan had no impact on the fermentation time, enhanced the apparent viscosity and changed sensory properties. The experiments of medical nutrition of volunteers showed a significant decrease of total (p<0.05) and low density lipoprotein (p<0.05) cholesterol, increase in high density lipoprotein cholesterol (p<0.01) in their blood after a 21-day period of consumption of fermented product with β-glucan. According to these findings, consumption of fermented milk beverage prepared on the buttermilk-skimmed milk base and enriched with oat β-glucan had a beneficial effect on human health.