Pu-erh tea added to probiotic yoghurt and its effects on bacteria and texture
What it found
Adding Pu-erh tea to probiotic yoghurt boosted antioxidant activity in lab tests and slightly increased one type of starter bacteria.
Higher amounts of tea made the yoghurt softer and changed its colour and taste.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Antioxidant activity in yoghurt
In lab tests, adding Pu-erh tea raised antioxidant measures by 3 to 6.5 times and 10 to 24.1 times compared to plain yoghurt. The effect grew stronger with more tea. Storage time did not change these levels.
Starter bacteria survival
In lab tests, adding 5% or 15% tea slightly increased counts of Lactobacillus acidophilus over the storage period. Counts of the other two starter bacteria stayed about the same across all groups.
Texture changes over time
Higher tea amounts made the yoghurt less firm and less consistent after 14 and 21 days of cold storage. Other texture measures were not affected by the tea addition.
Other findings
Colour and taste ratings
The tea turned the yoghurt darker and more reddish-brown. A trained panel of 6 people rated plain yoghurt higher overall than the tea versions. Among the tea yoghurts, the 15% version got the best scores, above 4.0 on a 5-point scale.
What the authors conclude
- They say Pu-erh tea can work as an additive in probiotic yoghurt because it raises antioxidant properties and keeps starter bacteria stable during cold storage.
- They note that Pu-erh tea might help increase the number of probiotic bacteria.
- They advise choosing the tea amount carefully, since some doses worsen the texture and taste of the yoghurt.
How it was done
Most research on adding tea to dairy products focuses on green tea. The authors wanted to see how Pu-erh tea, a fermented dark tea, affects probiotic yoghurt.
They made batches of cow's milk yoghurt with three types of starter bacteria. They added 0%, 5%, 10% or 15% Pu-erh tea infusion before fermentation. They tested the yoghurts over 21 days of cold storage for bacteria counts, texture, colour, acidity and taste using a panel of 6 people.
What it can’t tell you
- This work tested yoghurt in a lab, so it cannot show what happens when people eat it.
- A small taste panel of 6 people may not reflect how most shoppers would rate the flavour.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- University of Agriculture in Krakow, Poland
The paper
- Title
- Characteristics of probiotic yoghurts supplemented with Pu-erh tea infusion
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Najgebaue-Lejko D (2019). Characteristics of probiotic yoghurts supplemented with Pu-erh tea infusion. Acta scientiarum polonorum. Technologia alimentaria. doi:10.17306/J.AFS.0640Free full textPubMed 31256543DOI
Summary written 1 Oct 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error