Mechanism of Action of Nanosized Bamboo Shoot Dietary Fiber in Improving Whey Syneresis during Shelf Life of Yogurt

The effect of nanosized bamboo dietary fiber (NBDF) on whey syneresis in yogurt during shelf storage was studied. The milk wettability of micro- and nano-modified NBDF with different particle sizes was analyzed. The inhibitory mechanism of the modified NBDF exhibiting the best milk wettability on whey syneresis during the shelf storage of yogurt was investigated. The results showed that the morphology of NBDF changed from blocky to filamentous after sequential ultrasound, pressurized heating and enzymatic hydrolysis. The microfibrils were fractured after high-energy mechanical ball milling, forming nanoclusters. The milk wettability of modified NBDF initially increased and then decreased with the decrease in particle size. The microfibrils with a particle size of 10–30 μm had the strongest milk wettability. Addition of the microfibrils at a mass concentration of 9 g/L improved the oscillation stability of set yogurt. After 28 days of shelf storage, the whey separation rate was 5.84%, which was only 57.87% of that of the control group. This may be related to the fact that the microfibrils effectively increased the proportion of bound water in yogurt (by 41.4%), improved the casein network structure, and increased the coatability, contributing to the formation of tiny and uniform whey pore channels in yogurt.