The Effect of Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) Sweetener Addition on Physical Quality of Synbiotic Yoghurt Containing Extract of Evaporated Red Dragon Fruit Peels (Hylocereus polyrhizus)

This research was conducted at the Laboratory of Animal Products Technology, Faculty of Animal Science, Universitas Brawijaya from August to October 2021. Synbiotic yoghurt is a combination of probiotics and prebiotics, so adding stevia sweetener can improve the physical quality. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of adding stevia sweetener to synbiotic yoghurt of evaporated red dragon fruit peel extract in terms of physical quality. The research method used is a laboratory experiment using a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) pattern with four treatments and five replications. The percentage treatment of stevia sweetener carried out was the control treatment 0% (T0), 0.5% (T1), 2% (T2), 3.5% (T3). The analysis results showed that stevia sweetener concentration added a very significant difference (T<0.01) to pH, syneresis, and color L*a*b. However, it did not have a significant effect (P>0.05) on the water holding capacity. Based on the results of the research conducted, it can be concluded that the treatment with physical quality as the best treatment was T1 with the addition of 0.5% stevia sweetener with an average pH 4.15; syneresis 27.11%; water holding capacity 71.33%, and color L value 38.38; a value 13.46; b value 4.60. The physical quality of synbiotic yoghurt with the addition of 0.5% Stevia sweetener complies with SNI 2981:2009, and the use of 0.5% Stevia percentage is more efficient than the other percentage additions.