Farnaz Jozedaemi - Food and Drug Organization, Zanjan University of Medical Science, Zanjan, Iran.
Mohammad Ghorbani - Associate Prof., Dept. of Food Sciences, University of Gorgan
Alireza Sadeghi Mahonak - Associate Prof. Dept. of Food Sciences and Technology, University of Gorgan
Simin Hagh Nazari - Assistant Prof. Dept. of Food Sciences, College of Agriculture, University of Zanjan

Whey, a by-product of cheese and concentrated yogurt production, is a green-yellow liquid. The high biochemical oxygen demand and the chemical oxygen demand of whey pose a major world-wide pollution problem for the environment, for which an effective solution is needed. Moreover, Whey has many nutrient and health benefits. In this study yogurt whey based fruit beverages were prepared by formulating a mixture of orange concentrates, sugar and stabilizer with 3 percent of yogurt whey (35, 50 and 65%). Sensory evaluation was performed by 10 judges using 5-point hedonic scale to compare the color, consistency, flavor, taste and overall acceptability of the formulated products. The orange beverages, with 35% yogurt whey, reached the highest scores by judges. The selected beverage was stored in room temperature and in refrigerator for 12 weeks. The results showed that the pH, total sugar and cloudiness had no significant changes during the storage period in refrigerator but there were significant changes in pH, total sugar and cloudiness of samples stored in room temperature. The overall acceptability of the beverages stored in refrigerator was found to be desirable at the end of the 12th week of storage.

Yogurt Whey Beverage, Environmental contamination, Waste recovery, Sensory characteristics; Storage