Vegetable milk fermented food product, and method for manufacturing same

Abstract

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a vegetable milk fermented food product having a creamy mouthfeel and having the same smoothness as yogurt, the vegetable milk fermented food product being such that it is possible to user EPS-producing bacteria of a wider variety of types irrespective of whether said bacteria have α-galactosidase activity. A method for manufacturing a vegetable milk fermented food product by inoculating a vegetable-milk-containing fermented raw material with lactic acid bacteria and prompting lactic acid fermentation to occur, wherein the method for manufacturing a vegetable milk fermented food product is characterized in comprising: A) a decomposition step in which α-galactosidase is caused to act on vegetable milk to which a saccharide including galactose bonded by an α-glycoside bond has been added as a constituent sugar, or on vegetable milk containing said saccharide, and the saccharide is hydrolyzed; and B) a fermentation step, performed after or simultaneously with the decomposition step, in which the hydrolyzed saccharide is fermented by lactic acid bacteria having extracellular-polysaccharide-producing capabilities.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.