A one-way repeated measures ANOVA and Fisher’s LSD test were used to analyze statistically significant differences between mean pH (mean ± SD) during 6 h of fermentation and 30 days of refrigerated storage in four probiotic yogurt treatments. A p-value of < 0.05 was statistically significant. In a row, mean pH values for each treatment followed by the same superscript letter (a)–(d) are not significantly different (p > 0.05). Treatment 1: 100% (w/v) cows’ milk; Treatment 2: 100% (w/v) cows’ milk with the addition of 2% (w/v) of flax seeds; Treatment 3: 100% (w/v) cows’ milk with the addition of 2% (w/v) hemp seeds; Treatment 4: 100% (w/v) cows’ milk with the addition of 2% (w/v) chia seeds. L. rhamnosus: Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus; ANOVA: analysis of variance; LSD: least significant difference; w/v: weight per volume.
Declarations
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the Brescia School of Food and Nutritional Sciences at University of Western Ontario for providing the facilities that made this research possible.
Author contributions
HGA: Investigation, Project administration, Resources, Validation, Visualization, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. SH: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Resources, Supervision, Visualization, Writing—review & editing. Both authors read and approved the submitted version.
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Ethical approval
The sensory evaluation involved in this study was approved by the Health Sciences Research Ethics Board at the University of Western Ontario (Project ID: 126226).
Consent to participate
Informed consent to participation in the study was obtained from all participants.
Consent to publication
Not applicable.
Availability of data and materials
The raw data supporting the conclusions of this manuscript will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation, to any qualified researcher.
Funding
This study was supported by Brescia Internal Research Fund [BA12]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Open Exploration maintains a neutral stance on jurisdictional claims in published institutional affiliations and maps. All opinions expressed in this article are the personal views of the author(s) and do not represent the stance of the editorial team or the publisher.
References
DeBruyne AN, Hekmat S. The effects of fortification of yogurt with various functional flours on survival and growth of probiotic bacteria and sensory properties of the yogurt.Nutr Food Sci. 2024;54:597–612. [DOI]
Chhikara N, Panghal A, Chaudhary G, editors. Functional Foods. Beverly: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 2022.
Hekmat S, Reid G. Sensory properties of probiotic yogurt is comparable to standard yogurt.Nutr Res. 2006;26:163–6. [DOI]
Reid G, Chan RC, Bruce AW, Costerton JW. Prevention of urinary tract infection in rats with an indigenous Lactobacillus casei strain.Infect Immun. 1985;49:320–4. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Reid G, Charbonneau D, Erb J, Kochanowski B, Beuerman D, Poehner R, et al. Oral use of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and L. fermentum RC-14 significantly alters vaginal flora: randomized, placebo-controlled trial in 64 healthy women.FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol. 2003;35:131–4. [DOI] [PubMed]
Irvine SL, Hummelen R, Hekmat S. Probiotic yogurt consumption may improve gastrointestinal symptoms, productivity, and nutritional intake of people living with human immunodeficiency virus in Mwanza, Tanzania.Nutr Res. 2011;31:875–81. [DOI] [PubMed]
Franco-Robles E, Ramírez-Emiliano J, editors. Prebiotics and Probiotics - Potential Benefits in Nutrition and Health. London: IntechOpen; 2020. [DOI]
Dugan CE, Fernandez ML. Chapter 27 - Dairy, Yogurt, and Cardiovascular Health. In: Shah NP, editor. Yogurt in Health and Disease Prevention. Academic Press; 2017. pp. 475–89. [DOI]
Ardabilchi Marand M, Amjadi S, Ardabilchi Marand M, Roufegarinejad L, Jafari SM. Fortification of yogurt with flaxseed powder and evaluation of its fatty acid profile, physicochemical, antioxidant, and sensory properties.Powder Technol. 2020;359:76–84. [DOI]
Singh KK, Mridula D, Rehal J, Barnwal P. Flaxseed: a potential source of food, feed and fiber.Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2011;51:210–22. [DOI] [PubMed]
Rizzo G, Storz MA, Calapai G. The Role of Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) as a Functional Food in Vegetarian Nutrition.Foods. 2023;12:3505. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Fried R, Carlton RM. Flaxseed, a Functional Food—Constituents and Their Health Benefits.In: Flaxseed: Evidence-based Cardiovascular and other Medicinal Benefits. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2022.
Burrowes R, Hekmat S. Development of probiotic yogurt from almond and cow’s milk using Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GR-1.Nutr Food Sci. 2023;53:995–1004. [DOI]
White J, Hekmat S. Development of Probiotic Fruit Juices Using Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 Fortified with Short Chain and Long Chain Inulin Fiber.Fermentation. 2018;4:27. [DOI]
Lorenc F, Jarošová M, Bedrníček J, Smetana P, Bárta J. Structural Characterization and Functional Properties of Flaxseed Hydrocolloids and Their Application.Foods. 2022;11:2304. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Nakov G, Ninova-Nikolova N, Ivanova N, Raykova V, Trajkovska B, Čolić ML, et al. Yogurt Enriched with Chia Seeds: Physicochemical, Microbiological, and Sensory Changes during Storage.Fermentation. 2024;10:431. [DOI]
Liu M, Toth JA, Childs M, Smart LB, Abbaspourrad A. Composition and functional properties of hemp seed protein isolates from various hemp cultivars.J Food Sci. 2023;88:942–51. [DOI] [PubMed]
Tazrart K, Ould-Saadi L, Smail-Benazzouz L, Kati DE. Impact of whole chia seeds (Salvia Hispanica) addition on the properties and stability of the set-type yogurt.Ann Univ Dunarea Jos Galati, Fasc VI. 2023;47:125–39. [DOI]
Mousavi M, Heshmati A, Daraei Garmakhany A, Vahidinia A, Taheri M. Texture and sensory characterization of functional yogurt supplemented with flaxseed during cold storage.Food Sci Nutr. 2019;7:907–17. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Hussein H, Awad S, El-Sayed I, Ibrahim A. Impact of chickpea as prebiotic, antioxidant and thickener agent of stirred bio-yoghurt.Ann Agric Sci. 2020;65:49–58. [DOI]
Muncey L, Hekmat S. Development of Probiotic Almond Beverage Using Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GR-1 Fortified with Short-Chain and Long-Chain Inulin Fibre.Fermentation. 2021;7:90. [DOI]
Bustamante M, Laurie-Martínez L, Vergara D, Campos-Vega R, Rubilar M, Shene C. Effect of Three Polysaccharides (Inulin, and Mucilage from Chia and Flax Seeds) on the Survival of Probiotic Bacteria Encapsulated by Spray Drying.Appl Sci. 2020;10:4623. [DOI]
Alhssan E, Ercan SŞ, Bozkurt H. Effect of Flaxseed Mucilage and Gum Arabic on Probiotic Survival and Quality of Kefir during Cold Storage.Foods. 2023;12:662. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Fatima SM, Hekmat S. Microbial and Sensory Analysis of Soy and Cow Milk-Based Yogurt as a Probiotic Matrix for Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1.Fermentation. 2020;6:74. [DOI]
Ueda J, Spence C, Okajima K. Effects of varying the standard deviation of the luminance on the appearance of food, flavour expectations, and taste/flavour perception.Sci Rep. 2020;10:16175. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Stright A, Baxter L, Dolan E, Frampton K, Richelle E, Ritchie C, et al. An investigation into the sensory properties of luffa (Luffa cylindrica (L.)) seeds and a comparison to other seeds (flax, sunflower, chia, and hemp).Food Res Int. 2024;192:114746. [DOI] [PubMed]
Ketel EC, Aguayo-Mendoza MG, de Wijk RA, de Graaf C, Piqueras-Fiszman B, Stieger M. Age, gender, ethnicity and eating capability influence oral processing behaviour of liquid, semi-solid and solid foods differently.Food Res Int. 2019;119:143–51. [DOI] [PubMed]
Broge EHdL, Wendin K, Rasmussen MA, Bredie WLP. Familiarity and identification of everyday food odors in older adults and their influence on hedonic liking.Food Qual Preference. 2023;103:104715. [DOI]
Torrico DD, Fuentes S, Gonzalez Viejo C, Ashman H, Dunshea FR. Cross-cultural effects of food product familiarity on sensory acceptability and non-invasive physiological responses of consumers.Food Res Int. 2019;115:439–50. [DOI] [PubMed]
Jena R, Choudhury PK. Unveiling probiotic and prebiotic functional dairy foods: a health beneficial outlook.3 Biotech. 2025;15:175. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Ranadheera CS, Vidanarachchi JK, Rocha RS, Cruz AG, Ajlouni S. Probiotic Delivery through Fermentation: Dairy vs. Non-Dairy Beverages.Fermentation. 2017;3:67. [DOI]
Townsend JR, Kirby TO, Sapp PA, Gonzalez AM, Marshall TM, Esposito R. Nutrient synergy: definition, evidence, and future directions.Front Nutr. 2023;10:1279925. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Montemurro M, Verni M, Rizzello CG, Pontonio E. Design of a Plant-Based Yogurt-Like Product Fortified with Hemp Flour: Formulation and Characterization.Foods. 2023;12:485. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Basiri S, Tajbakhsh S, Shekarforoush SS. Fortification of stirred yoghurt with mucilage-free flaxseed and its physicochemical, microbial, textural and sensory properties.Int Dairy J. 2022;131:105384. [DOI]
Çebi K, Yangılar F. Comparative Analysis of Nutritional, Physicochemical, Microbiological, and Sensorial Characteristics of Dairy Yogurts Containing Probiotic Bacteria and Sandalwood Essential Oil Versus Plant-Based Yogurts Made From Lupine Milk.Eur J Lipid Sci Technol. 2025;127:e202400147. [DOI]
