Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host, mainly through the process of replacing or including beneficial bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract. Fermented dairy foods such as yogurt, fermented milk and cheese are the major vehicle in delivering probiotics, and probiotic delivery have been traditionally associated with these fermented dairy foods. Additionally, many other non-dairy probiotic products and non-food form such as capsules, pills and tablets are also available and some of these non-food forms are highly popular among the consumers. Certain non-dairy probiotic foods, especially beverages that are non-fermented products, can also play an important role in probiotic delivery. There is an increasing demand for non-dairy probiotic foods (both fermented and non-fermented) including fruit and vegetable juices, soy and certain cereal products due to vegetarianism, lactose intolerance and dairy allergies, as well as interest in low cholesterol foods. In this context, this review mainly focus on the different types of probiotic food products including beverages with special reference to their viability followed by a brief account on the applicability of using fermented and non-fermented beverage products in probiotic delivery.

Ultrasonic processing of fermented milk products has created much interest in current research on dairy products. This has been employed in cultured milk products to enhance the emulsification of milk fat and to intensify the fermentation process. Benefits including remarkable product stability, reduced processing time and enhanced quality are being recorded. Ultrasound (US) altered the colour and flavour profile of milk; however, the effect of USinduced fermentation on the synthesis of flavour compounds in milk has not been reported in the literature. This review paper presents a comprehensive scenario on the impact of power US on García, 2011). Depending on the conditions used such as amplitude, temperature, pressure, and the composition of the medium, several mechanisms can be activated including increase of the temperature, surface instability, generation of agitation and friction, increase of mass transfer, generation of free radicals and disruption of cell materials (Ashokkumar, 2011; Martini, 2013b; Salazar, Chávez, Turó, & García-Hernández, 2009). 3. Application of power ultrasound in lactic fermentation of milk Application of both low power ultrasound (LPU) and power US in fermentation has been reported in the literature. LPU has power intensities below 1 Wcm-2 and is commonly used for non-destructive analysis in the food industry to characterise food components, often on quality assurance lines and to monitor fermentation processes (Novoa-Díaz et al., 2014) and is not a focus for this review paper. On the other hand, PU (with power intensities above 10 Wcm-2) alone (sonication) or in combination with external pressure (manosonication), heat

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1. The effect of potassium diformate (KDF) on mortality, growth performance, microbial populations, pH and short chain fatty acid concentrations in the intestinal tract of broiler chickens challenged with necrotic enteritis was investigated. 2. An experiment with 1050 Cobb male broiler chickens was conducted from 1 to 35 d of age. There were 7 treatment groups: (1) unchallenged negative control, (2) unchallenged KDF (4.50 g/kg feed), (3) challenged negative control, (4) challenged positive control (100 ppm monensin and 45 ppm Zn-bacitracin), and (5) to (7) challenged KDF (inclusion rate 2.25, 4.50 and 6.75 g/kg feed, respectively). 3. The necrotic enteritis challenge caused significant growth depression except in the challenged positive control group. Inclusion of KDF in feed had no significant effect on weight gain or feed conversion ratio, neither under challenged nor unchallenged conditions. Necrotic-enteritis-related mortalities were reduced in response to the positive control feed and KDF at 2.25 and 4.50 g/kg rates, but with no effect at the 6.75 g/kg rate. 4. There was no effect of KDF on Clostridium perfringens numbers in jejunum during the necrotic enteritis challenge (d 15). Post challenge (d 35), 4.5 g/kg KDF reduced the number of C. perfringens and Enterobacteria in jejunum compared with the negative control group. 5. Intestinal pH was not affected by adding KDF to the feed. The challenge reduced jejunum pH compared with the unchallenged treatment groups and challenged positive control group. 6. Chickens fed the KDF diets had detectable concentrations of formic acid in the jejunum. There was a tendency towards higher concentrations of acetic acid and lactic acid in the small intestine of unchallenged birds, whereas challenged birds had higher concentrations of butyric acid in the caeca. 7. It is concluded that KDF holds promise as an agent to control necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens and it may be possible to enhance the efficacy of KDF by manipulating dietary properties that may influence the dissociation kinetics of KDF in the gut.

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