Published Paper Details:

Food fortification is the process of adding micronutrients (essential trace elements and vitamins) in food. As defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), fortification refers to "the practice of deliberately increasing the content of an essential micronutrient, i.e. vitamins and minerals (including trace elements) in a food, so as to improve the nutritional quality of the food supply and to provide a public health benefit with minimal risk to health", whereas enrichment is defined as "synonymous with fortification and refers to the addition of micronutrients to a food which are lost during processing". Foods based on fruits and vegetables, such as its juices and pulp represent a new potential carrier and source of probiotic microorganism. Yogurt, the best carrier of probiotics, traditionally is manufactured streptococcus thermophiles and lactobacillus deldrueckii ssp. Bulgaricus (L. bulgaricus) as starter cultures. Raw and fermented fruits represent an excellent vehicle for probiotics due to their natural structure that allows the easy availability of usual nutrients for microbial growth. Majority 70% of people in India do not consume enough micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals in day to day life. Due to the high consumption rate of dairy products such as probiotic yogurt, fortification of these products will effectively reduce or prevent diseases associated with nutritional deficiencies. The aim of this investigation is to study the technical aspects involved in production of different types of fortified yogurts, firstly, fortification is defined and the main reasons behind carrying out this process are presented and then yogurt production process and a variety of minerals, vitamins, and functional ingredients which are used in the process are briefly discussed.