European Journal of Nutrition & Food Safety

Aims: To develop and optimize a Functional Greek Style Yoghurt Sauce by incorporating nutrient-rich ingredients and to evaluate the effect of different inclusion levels on sensory characteristics and to identify the most acceptable combination.

Study Design:  Formulation of Functional Greek Style Yoghurt Sauce using varying levels of functional ingredients followed by sensory evaluation to determine the optimized formulation based on overall acceptability.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at the Department of Dairy Technology, Dairy Science College, Hebbal, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, during the period from December 2024 to September 2025.

Methodology: Standardized cow milk (3.5% fat, 8.5% SNF) was fortified with 3% WPC-80 and  heated at 90°C for 2–3 min, cooled to 42°C, inoculated with Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus at 2% (v/v).  yoghurt culture, incubated for 5 h, and The whey was separated at 7±1°C for 8 h to obtain Greek style yoghurt. And then it blended with 10% olive oil, 1% salt, and different levels of dried spinach (3–7%), proso millet (1–3%), dried thyme, and green chili (0.5–1%). The developed product was assessed by trained panelists through a 9-point hedonic sensory evaluation.

Results: Among the different levels tested, best acceptability was observed with 3% spinach, 1% proso millet, 0.75% thyme, and 0.5% green chili, significantly improving flavor, colour and appearance, body and texture and overall acceptability.

Conclusion: The study concluded that fortification of Greek style yoghurt Sauce with functional ingredients such as dried spinach, proso millet, thyme, and green chili positively enhances sensory quality and delivering a required nutrition when used at optimized levels, making it a promising health-oriented dairy condiment for the market.