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Yoghurt Information

Yoghurt, yogurt or yogourt (Turkish: Yoğurt) is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. Fermentation of lactose produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yoghurt its texture and its characteristic tang. Dairy yoghurt is produced using a culture of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus bacteria. The milk is heated to about 80 °C to kill any undesirable bacteria and to denature the milk proteins so that they set together rather than form curds. It is then cooled to about 45 °C. The bacteria culture is added, and this temperature is maintained for 4 to 7 hours for fermentation. Soy yoghurt, a non-dairy yoghurt alternative, is made from soy milk.

People have been making and eating yoghurt for at least 5,400 years. Today, it is a common food item throughout the world. A nutritious food with unique health benefits, it is rich in protein, calcium, riboflavin, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12.[1]

Contents

Etymology and spelling

The word is derived from Turkish: yoğurt,[2] and is related to the obsolete verb yoğmak 'to be curdled or coagulated; to thicken'.[3] The letter ğ was traditionally rendered as "gh" in transliterations of Turkish. In older Turkish, the letter denoted a voiced velar fricative /ɣ/, but this sound is elided between back vowels in modern Turkish, in which the word is pronounced [joˈuɾt]. Some eastern dialects retain the consonant in this position, and Turks in the Balkans pronounce the word with a hard /ɡ/.[citation needed]

In English, there are several variations of the spelling of the word. In Australia and New Zealand "yoghurt" prevails.[4][5] In the United Kingdom "yoghurt" and "yogurt" are both current, "yogurt" being more common on product labels, and "yoghourt" is an uncommon alternative.[6] In the United States, "yogurt'" is the usual spelling and "yoghurt" a minor variant. In Canada, "yogurt" is most common among English speakers, but many brands use "yogourt," since it is an acceptable spelling in both official languages.

Whatever the spelling, the word is usually pronounced with a short o (/ˈjɒɡət/) in the UK, with a long o (/ˈjoʊɡərt/) in North America, Australia and South Africa, and with either a long or short o in New Zealand and Ireland.

History

There is evidence of cultured milk products in cultures as far back as 2000 BC. The earliest yoghurt was probably fermented spontaneously, perhaps by wild bacteria residing inside goatskin bags used for transportation. In the early 1800's men used yogurt to clean their goats and sheep. Many women also used yogurt to wash their bodies and hair. Yogurt was the best known cleaning agent at the time.

The oldest writings mentioning yoghurt are attributed to Pliny the Elder, who remarked that certain nomadic tribes knew how "to thicken the milk into a substance with an agreeable acidity".[7] The use of yoghurt by medieval Turks is recorded in the books Diwan Lughat al-Turk by Mahmud Kashgari and Kutadgu Bilig by Yusuf Has Hajib written in the 11th century.[8][9] Both texts mention the word "yoghurt" in different sections and describe its use by nomadic Turks.[8][9] An early account of a European encounter with yoghurt occurs in French clinical history: Francis I suffered from a severe diarrhoea which no French doctor could cure. His ally Suleiman the Magnificent sent a doctor, who allegedly cured the patient with yoghurt.[10][11] Being grateful, the French king spread around the information about the food which had cured him.

Raita is a condiment made with yoghurt and popular in India and Pakistan.

Until the 1900s, yoghurt was a staple in diets of people in the Russian Empire (and especially Central Asia and the Caucasus), Western Asia, South Eastern Europe/Balkans, Central Europe, and India. Stamen Grigorov (1878–1945), a Bulgarian student of medicine in Geneva, first examined the microflora of the Bulgarian yoghurt. In 1905 he described it as consisting of a spherical and a rod-like lactic acid bacteria. In 1907 the rod-like bacteria was called Lactobacillus bulgaricus (now Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus). The Russian Nobel laureate biologist Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, was influenced by Grigorov's work and hypothesised that regular consumption of yoghurt was responsible for the unusually long lifespans of Bulgarian peasants. Believing Lactobacillus to be essential for good health, Mechnikov worked to popularise yoghurt as a foodstuff throughout Europe.

Isaac Carasso industrialised the production of yoghurt. In 1919, Carasso, who was from Ottoman Salonika, started a small yoghurt business in Barcelona and named the business Danone ("little Daniel") after his son. The brand later expanded to the United States under an Americanised version of the name: Dannon.

Tarator is a cold soup made of yoghurt and cucumber (dill, garlic, walnuts and sunflower oil are sometimes added), popular in Bulgaria.

Yoghurt with added fruit jam was patented in 1933 by the Radlická Mlékárna dairy in Prague.[12] It was introduced to the United States in 1947, by Dannon.

Yoghurt was first introduced to the United States in the first decade of the twentieth century, influenced by Élie Metchnikoff's The Prolongation of Life; Optimistic Studies (1908); it was available in tablet form for those with digestive intolerance and for home culturing.[13] It was popularised by John Harvey Kellogg at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, where it was used both orally and in enemas,[14] and later by Armenian immigrants Sarkis and Rose Colombosian, who started "Colombo and Sons Creamery" in Andover, Massachusetts in 1929.[15][16] Colombo Yoghurt was originally delivered around New England in a horse-drawn wagon inscribed with the Armenian word "madzoon" which was later changed to "yogurt", the Turkish name of the product, as Turkish was the lingua franca between immigrants of the various Near Eastern ethnicities[citation needed] who were the main consumers at that time. Yoghurt's popularity in the United States was enhanced in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was presented as a health food. By the late 20th century yoghurt had become a common American food item and Colombo Yogurt was sold in 1993 to General Mills, which discontinued the brand in 2010.[17]

Nutritional value and health benefits

Tzatziki is an appetiser made with yoghurt, popular in Greece.

Yoghurt is nutritionally rich in protein, calcium, riboflavin, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12.[1] It has nutritional benefits beyond those of milk. People who are moderately lactose-intolerant can consume yoghurt without ill effects, because much of the lactose in the milk precursor is converted to lactic acid by the bacterial culture.[18]

Yoghurt may also be used in preventing antibiotic-associated diarrhea.[19]

Yoghurt is believed to promote good gum health, possibly because of the effect of lactic acid present in yoghurt.[20]

A study published in the International Journal of Obesity (11 January 2005) also found that the consumption of low-fat yoghurt can promote weight loss, especially due to the calcium in the yoghurt.[21]

Varieties and presentation

Dadiah sold in Bukittinggi Market

Dadiah, or Dadih, is a traditional West Sumatran yoghurt made from water buffalo milk. It is fermented in bamboo tubes.

Yoghurt is popular in Nepal, where it is served as both an appetiser and dessert. Locally called dahi (दही), it is a part of the Nepali culture, used in local festivals, marriage ceremonies, parties, religious occasions, family gatherings, and so on. The most famous type of Nepalese yoghurt is called juju dhau, originating from the city of Bhaktapur.

Tarator and Cacık are popular cold soups made from yoghurt, popular during summertime in Albania, Bulgaria, Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey. They are made with ayran, cucumbers, dill, salt, olive oil, and optionally garlic and ground walnuts. Tzatziki, a thick yoghurt-based sauce similar in concoction to tarator, is popular in Greece. Bulgaria typically calls tzatziki "dry tarator".

Khyar w Laban (cucumber and yogurt salad) is a popular dish in Lebanon. Also, a wide variety of local Lebanese dishes are cooked with yogurt like "Kibbi bi Laban" etc..

Rahmjoghurt, a creamy yoghurt with much higher fat content (10%) than most yoghurts offered in English-speaking countries (Rahm is German for "cream"), is available in Germany and other countries.

Cream-top yoghurt is yoghurt made with unhomogenised milk. A layer of cream rises to the top, forming a rich yoghurt cream. Cream-top yoghurt was first made commercially popular in the United States by Brown Cow of Newfield, New York, bucking the trend toward low- and non-fat yoghurts.

Jameed is yoghurt which is salted and dried to preserve it. It is popular in Jordan.

Zabadi is the type of yoghurt made in Egypt, usually from the milk of the Egyptian water buffalo. It is particularly associated with Ramadan fasting, as it is thought to prevent thirst during all-day fasting.[22]

Raita is a yoghurt-based South Asian/Indian condiment, used as a side dish. The yoghurt is seasoned with cilantro (coriander), cumin, mint, cayenne pepper, and other herbs and spices. Vegetables such as cucumber and onions are mixed in, and the mixture is served chilled. Raita has a cooling effect on the palate which makes it a good foil for spicy Indian dishes.

Dudh is a Sindhi-curd, popular in India. People drink dudh along with food at intervals, to help digestion and make food more delicious. In some places dudh is also served with plain rice.

Dahi is a yoghurt of the Indian subcontinent, known for its characteristic taste and consistency. The word dahi seems to be derived from the Sanskrit word dadhi, one of the five elixirs, or panchamrita, often used in Hindu ritual. Dahi also holds cultural symbolism in many homes in the Mithilanchal region of Bihar. It is found in different flavours, two of which are famous: sour yoghurt (tauk doi) and sweet yoghurt (meesti or podi doi). In India, it is often used in cosmetics mixed with turmeric and honey. Sour yoghurt (खट्टी दही) is also used as a hair conditioner by women in many parts of India. Dahi is also known as Thayiru (Malayalam), doi (Assamese, Bengali), dohi (Oriya), perugu (Telugu), Mosaru (Kannada), Thayir (Tamil), or Qәzana a pәәner (Pashto).

Srikhand, a popular dessert in India, is made from drained yoghurt, saffron, cardamom, nutmeg and sugar and sometimes fruits such as mango or pineapple.

Sweetened and flavored yoghurt

To offset its natural sourness, yoghurt can be sold sweetened, flavored or in containers with fruit or fruit jam on the bottom.[23] If the fruit has been stirred into the yoghurt before purchase, it is commonly referred to as Swiss-style.[24] Most yoghurts in North America[citation needed] have added pectin, found naturally in fruit, and/or gelatin to artificially create thickness and creaminess at lower cost. This type of adulterated product is also marketed under the name Swiss-style, although it is unrelated to the way yoghurt is eaten in Switzerland. Some yoghurts, often called "cream line," are made with whole milk which has not been homogenised so the cream rises to the top. Fruit jam is used instead of raw fruit pieces in fruit yoghurts to allow storage for weeks.[citation needed]

Sweeteners such as cane sugar or sucralose – for low-calorie yogurts – are often present in large amounts in commercial yoghurt.

In the USA, sweetened, flavored yoghurt is the most popular type, typically sold in single-serving plastic cups. Typical flavors are vanilla, honey, or fruit such as strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, or peach. In recent years, some manufacturers are marketing flavors inspired by desserts, such as chocolate or cheesecake, with many variants.

Strained yoghurts

Main article: strained yoghurt

Strained yoghurts are types of yoghurt which are strained through a paper or cloth filter, traditionally made of muslin, to remove the whey, giving a much thicker consistency and a distinctive, slightly tangy taste.

Labneh is a strained yoghurt used for sandwiches popular in Arab countries. Olive oil, cucumber slices, olives, and various green herbs may be added. It can be thickened further and rolled into balls, preserved in olive oil, and fermented for a few more weeks. It is sometimes used with onions, meat, and nuts as a stuffing for a variety of pies or kebbeh (كبة) balls.

Some types of strained yoghurts are boiled in open vats first, so that the liquid content is reduced. The popular East Indian dessert, a variation of traditional dahi called mishti dahi, offers a thicker, more custard-like consistency, and is usually sweeter than western yoghurts.

Strained yoghurt is also enjoyed in Greece and is the main component of tzadziki(from Turkish "cacik"), a well-known accompaniment to gyros and souvlaki pita sandwiches.

Beverages

Ayran or dhalla is a yoghurt-based, salty drink popular in Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, Pakistan, the Republic of Macedonia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It is made by mixing yoghurt with water and (sometimes) salt. The same drink is known as doogh in Iran; tan in Armenia; laban ayran in Syria and Lebanon; shenina in Iraq and Jordan; laban arbil in Iraq; majjiga (Telugu), majjige (Kannada), and moru (Tamil and Malayalam) in South India; lassi in Punjab and all over India. A similar drink, doogh, is popular in the Middle East between Lebanon, Iran and Afghanistan; it differs from ayran by the addition of herbs, usually mint, and is sometimes carbonated, commonly with carbonated water.

Lassiلسی (urdu) is a yoghurt-based beverage originally from the Indian subcontinent that is usually slightly salty or sweet. Lassi is a staple of Punjab. In some parts of the subcontinent, the sweet version may be commercially flavored with rosewater, mango or other fruit juice to create a very different drink. Salty lassi is usually flavored with ground, roasted cumin and red chillies; this salty variation may also use buttermilk, and is interchangeably called ghol (Bengal), mattha (North India),majjiga (Andhra Pradesh),moru (Tamil Nadu), Dahi paani (Odisha), tak (Maharashtra), or chaas (Gujarat). Lassi is also very widely drunk in Pakistan.

Sweetened yoghurt drinks are the usual form in Europe (including the UK) and the US, containing fruit and added sweeteners. These are typically called "drinking / drinkable yoghurt", such as Yop and BioBest Smoothie.

Also available are "yoghurt smoothies", which contain a higher proportion of fruit and are more like smoothies. In Ecuador, yoghurt smoothies flavored with native fruit are served with pandeyuca as a common type of fast food.

See also

Other fermented dairy products

References

  1. ^ a b Yale-New Haven Hospital nutrition advisor - Understanding yogurt
  2. ^ Merriam-Webster Online - Yogurt entry
  3. ^ Diran Kélékian, Dictionnaire Turc-Français, Imprimerie Mihran, Constantinople, 1911
  4. ^ "yoghurt n." The Australian Oxford Dictionary, 2nd edition. Ed. Bruce Moore. Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Retrieved 24 May 2007.
  5. ^ "yoghurt n." The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary. Tony Deverson. Oxford University Press 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Retrieved 24 May 2007.
  6. ^ Peters, Pam (2004). The Cambridge Guide to English Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 587-588.
  7. ^ The Natural History of Pliny, tr. John Bostock and H.T. Riley, London: Bell, 1856-93, Volume 3, p. 84: "It is a remarkable circumstance, that the barbarous nations which subsist on milk have been for so many ages either ignorant of the merits of cheese, or else have totally disregarded it; and yet they understand how to thicken milk and form therefrom an acrid kind of milk with a pleasant flavour".
  8. ^ a b Toygar, Kamil (1993). Türk Mutfak Kültürü Üzerine Araştırmalar. Türk Halk Kültürünü Araştırma ve Tanıtma Vakfı. p. 29. http://books.google.com/books?id=Ai61AAAAIAAJ&dq=yogurt+kutadgu+divan&q=divan+kutadgu#search_anchor. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  9. ^ a b Ögel, Bahaeddin (1978). Türk Kültür Tarihine Giriş: Türklerde Yemek Kültürü. Kültür Bakanlığı Yayınları. p. 35. http://books.google.com/books?id=NuvVUlWbikYC&q=yogurt#search_anchor. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  10. ^ Rosenthal, Sylvia Dworsky (1978). Fresh Food. Bookthrift Co.. p. 157. ISBN 978-0876902769. http://books.google.com/books?id=6ZwvAAAAYAAJ. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  11. ^ Coyle, L. Patrick (1982). The World Encyclopedia of Food. Facts On File Inc.. p. 763. ISBN 978-0871964175. http://books.google.com/books?id=iuPJlbBOst8C. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  12. ^ "První ovocný jogurt se narodil u Vltavy" (in Czech). 23 July 2002. http://ekonomika.idnes.cz/test.asp?r=test&c=A020723_103620_test_jan. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
  13. ^ Annual report of the Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of Wisconsin, volumes 25-26 (1907-09), pp. 205-06, 29, 197.
  14. ^ Dr. John Harvey Kellogg at museumofquackery.com, 20 April 2010, retrieved 12 November 2010.
  15. ^ "The Massachusetts Historical Society | Object of the Month". http://www.masshist.org/objects/2004june.cfm.
  16. ^ "Colombo Yogurt - First U.S. Yogurt Brand - Celebrates 75 Years". http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Colombo+Yogurt+-+First+U.S.+Yogurt+Brand+-+Celebrates+75+Years%3B...-a0116520624.
  17. ^ "General Mills to discontinue producing Colombo Yogurt". Eagle-Tribune. January 29, 2010. http://www.eagletribune.com/local/x338297210/General-Mills-to-discontinue-producing-Colombo-Yogurt. Retrieved 2010-04-29.
  18. ^ Yogurt--an autodigesting source of lactose. J.C. Kolars et al., New England Journal of Medicine, 310:1-3 (1984)
  19. ^ Ripudaman S. Beniwal, et al., "A Randomized Trial of Yogurt for Prevention of Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea", Digestive Diseases and Sciences 48:10:2077-2082 (October, 2003) doi:10.1023/A:1026155328638
  20. ^ "Yogurt Good for Gums, Health", dentalblogs.com (February 26, 2008)
  21. ^ Dairy augmentation of total and central fat loss in obese subjects
  22. ^ Acidified milk in different countries
  23. ^ "Faq "Live Cultures In Yogurt"". Askdrsears.Com. http://www.askdrsears.com/faq/fn12.asp. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  24. ^ "Encyclopedia". Web.foodnetwork.com. http://web.foodnetwork.com/food/web/encyclopedia/termdetail/0,7770,1184,00.html. Retrieved 24 September 2009.

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