Quality characteristic and antioxidant activity of yogurt containing olive leaf hot water extract

The objective of this study was to determine the antioxidant and quality characteristics of yogurt containing olive leaf hot water extract (CON: 0, OLY1: 0.1, OLY2: 0.2, and OLY4: 0.4% (w/v)) stored at 4°С for 15 days. After storage, the lactic acid bacteria count showed no significant difference between yogurt samples either in the presence or absence of olive leaf extract (p > 0.05). The total phenolic content, DPPH radical scavenging activity, and reducing power increased upon increasing the content of the olive leaf hot water extract. Oleuropein was found to be the most abundant phenolic compounds present in olive leaf, and the oleuropein content in OLY4, as measured by HPLC, decreased gradually to 1.09, 1.00, and 0.96 g/L upon increasing the storage time; however, this reduction was not significant (p > 0.05). In sensory evaluations, OLY1 gave the highest score among the experimental groups. The results of this study thereby demonstrate that olive leaf hot water extract can be used to improve the antioxidant capacity and sensory characteristics of yogurt.