A penetrometry study was made of the effect of the addition of gelatine on
the texture characteristics of yoghurts and acid-heat-induced milk gels. De
tailed analysis of the various penetration profiles provided valuable infor
mation about the nature of the samples studied. Gelatine was compatible wit
h the milk systems over a wide range of concentrations and it prevented syn
eresis. In yoghurts prepared with and without the addition of skim-milk pow
der, the addition of increasing concentrations of gelatine up to 1.5% gradu
ally modified the mechanical characteristics of the final gels. In acid-hea
t-induced milk gels, whose mechanical characteristics depend on the final p
H value, the addition of increasing quantities of gelatine up to 6.67% prac
tically eliminated this dependence, and the effect of pH was only significa
nt in the gels with 1.5% gelatine, which were structurally weaker.