The attempt to find healthier foods combined with the use of whey by the dairy industry has favored the production of fermented dairy beverages based on milk whey. The aim of this research is to characterize functional dairy beverages fermented by probiotics which have a prebiotic supplement added and which have been developed according to 12 treatments. The samples were analysed for the pH, acidity, fat content, total solids, protein, ashes and carbohydrates. The pH value of 4.8 was a suitable parameter to complete the fermentation of the beverages, thus ensuring the viability of probiotics. There was a variation in the centesimal composition of the dairy beverages according to the formulation. The higher the whey content, the lower the titratable acidity and the lower the protein content. The dairy beverages showed the highest total solids and carbohydrate contents when formulated with higher percentages of sugar and fructooligossacharides. The lower ash contents were observed in the beverages prepared with the highest sugar contents. The samples complied with current Brazilian legislation, and the products were considered nonfat because they presented less than 0.5% fat, regardless of the formulations.
probiotic; prebiotic; dairy beverages
