Molecular biology studies have confirmed that bioactive polysaccharides are naturally occurring polymers that have a variety of physiological and biochemical functions. The water-complexing ability, high viscosity, antioxidant and anti-aging properties of bioactive polysaccharides lay the foundation for their application in the fields of food, and the use of bioactive polysaccharides as a bioactive ingredient in functional foods has become a current research focus. Fermented milk has good flavor and probiotic properties, but it also has the disadvantages of short shelf life, poor curd quality, and general probiotic performance. How to improve the quality of fermented milk is a current major challenge. This article focuses on recent progress in the application of different types of bioactive polysaccharides in fermented milk, and reviews the effects and mechanisms of action of bioactive polysaccharides on the physicochemical, gel and probiotic properties of fermented milk. Furthermore, it discusses future prospects for the application of bioactive polysaccharides in fermented milk. This review is expected to provide a reference for exploring the functions of bioactive polysaccharides and improving the quality of fermented milk.

Brown yogurt is a new type of yogurt with a burned flavor formed by the nonenzymatic Maillard reaction and silky smooth mouthfeel that contains high-quality nutrients and has become a new hotspot in the yogurt market. As Gansu province is one of the major livestock production areas and dairy processing bases in China, this region is bound to development the brown yogurt industry and seize market share. This article reviews the current status of the development of Gansu’s brown yogurt industry and existing problems. This review covers a summary of the history of the development of this industry and the problems encountered during the development process, the barriers to and driving forces for the research and development of brown yoghurt, the current status and challenges of brown yogurt processing, and the current trends and future prospects of brown yogurt.

Tea polyphenols, secondary metabolites found in green tea, are widely used in the food and medicinal industries because of their antioxidant and anti-cancer activity and preventive effect against cardiovascular diseases. The interaction of tea polyphenols with milk proteins can alter the structure of milk proteins and further affect the functional properties and bioavailability of dairy products. There have been widespread concerns about the binding of phenolic compounds to milk proteins due to the special structures of milk proteins. This review describes the mechanism of polyphenol-milk protein interaction, the factors influencing this interaction, the characteristics of reaction products, the methods used to analyze the mechanism, and the effects of this interaction on the functional properties and bioavailability of dairy products. Through this review, we aim to lay a theoretical basis for the development of new products based on the combination of tea polyphenols and milk proteins.

Driven by the development of modern statistics, physiology and human bionics, sensory evaluation of dairy products nowadays has been increasingly mature and considered highly significant. This article reviews the definition and procedure for sensory evaluation of dairy products as well as the application of sensory evaluation for dairy products. Moreover, further prospects are discussed. The aim of this review is to provide a theoretical basis for sensory evaluation of dairy products.

In order to obtain quality preference of caramel flavour, fruity, fermentation flavor, sweetness, acidity, astriction, combination weighting approach was employed by fuzzy mathematics comprehensive sensory evaluation expermienting 5 popular sterilization lactic acid fungus drink in market. Fuzzy relation curve was obtained finnally. Results showed that the overall sensory quality of 5 sterilization lactic acid fungus drink order was sample 5 > sample 2 > sample 4 = sample 1 > sample 3, which was slightly different from the results of simple ranking method: sample 2 > sample 4 = sample 1 > sample 5 > sample 3. The experiment results indicated that the fuzzy mathematics comprehensive sensory evaluation method was more scientific, reasonable and objective than simple ranking method.