Nutritional composition, physicochemical, microbiological, and sensory properties of flavored biofermented camel milk containing chickpea milk

Worldwide, the consumption of plant-based dairy alternatives has increased rapidly due to numerous positive health effects. There is very little information available about the potential use of chickpea seed milk in the manufacture of fermented camel milk (FCM). This study investigated the effect of partial replacement of camel milk (CM) with chickpea milk (ChM) at different concentrations (0%, 25%, 50%, and 75%) as a prebiotic antioxidant on the probiotic viability, nutritional composition, and physicochemical and sensory properties of bio-flavored FCM with date syrup during storage at 4°C up to 21 days. The results obtained showed that replacing CM with ChM caused a decrease in the total solids (TS), fat, and ash contents and an increase in the fiber content of the bio-flavored FCM. The replacement of CM with ChM caused a significant (p ≤ 0.05) decrease in the values of potential of hydrogen (pH), viscosity, and acetaldehyde in the bio-flavored FCM; this decrease was proportional to the increase in the replacement rate. The total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoids content (TFC), and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) inhibition percentage of bio-flavored FCM significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased with the replacement of CM with ChM. Also, ChM stimulated the growth of probiotic bacteria. The amino acid (AA) content of bio-flavored FCM was enhanced by replacing CM with ChM, where nonessential AA concentrations rose from 5.158 mg/g in control bio-flavored FCM to 54.964 mg/g in bio-flavored FCM + 50% ChM samples, a 50% increase over control bio-flavored FCM. The amount of essential AAs was also higher in the bio-flavored FCM + 50% ChM samples than in the control bio-flavored FCM, rising from 6.198 mg/g in the control bio-flavored FCM to 23.009 mg/g. The sensory evaluation revealed that samples with 50% ChM were preferred by panelists in sensory properties. The results obtained concluded that ChM could replace CM by up to 50% to enhance the quality of bio-flavored FCM and reduce production costs.