Shelf-life of a symbiotic fermented milk made from a cowpea bean paste.

Abstract

The objective of the work was to determine the shelf-life of a symbiotic fermented milk made from cowpea bean paste. Three experimental batches of the product, each weighing 100 kg, were prepared on a pilot plant scale. This was packaged in 450 mL polypropylene pots and stored at 4 ± 2 °C. During the storage period, physical-chemical, microbiological and sensory determinations were made. Shelf-life estimation was performed by regression analysis based on the hazard function for incomplete failure data (α = 0.05), adjusting the data to the Weibull distribution. The failure of the product was due to the loss of sensory quality related to the development of an intense acid taste, coinciding with the violation of the titratable acidity limits (1.20% m/m). The calculated shelf-life of the product was 14 days.