Preparation of whey based savory beverage with enhanced bio-accessible zinc.

Unlabelled: Zinc is an essential micronutrient for numerous catalytic, structural and regulatory functions in human body. However, its direct fortification in the food matrix poses the challenges of decreased bio-accessibility by forming insoluble sediments. Complexing zinc with polysaccharides has been reported as a possible intervention to address this issue by keeping the zinc in soluble form. Present investigation was undertaken to transform whey containing complexed zinc into a sensorially acceptable beverage by varying its pH from 3.5 to 5.5, common salt concentration from 0.5 to 1.5% and spices concentration at 0.2 and 0.4%. Changes in complexed zinc concentration, apparent viscosity, instrumental color parameters and sensory attributes were determined. Complexed zinc concentration increased (p < 0.05) with increasing pH, decreasing salt and increasing spices concentration. Whey beverage having 4.5 pH, 1.0% salt and 0.4% spices concentration was most preferred by the sensory panelists. In-vitro digestion of optimized whey beverage revealed that bio-accessibility of zinc was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in complex form than free from.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13197-022-05497-y.