The development of probiotic yeast strains as starter culture to improve the quality attributes and confer functional value on cereal-based traditional fermented foods is beneficial.

No abstract

Probiotic strains contribute to the functionality of foods during fermentation. In this present work, cereal‐mix was fermented with probiotic Pichia kudriavzevii OG32. Selected fermentation parameters and functional properties of the product were determined. The growth of Pichia kudriavzevii OG32 was supported by the cereal‐mix containing 1% salt and 0.2% red chili powder to counts of between 7.46 and 8.22 Log10 cfu/mL within 24 h. Pichia kudriavzevii OG32 increased the viscosity of cereal‐mix with the highest inoculum size (1.84x105cfu/ml) giving the highest viscosity of 1793.6 mPa.S. An inoculum size of 1.98 × 104 cfu/mL gave the most acceptable product based on the sensory evaluation by the panelist. Forty volatile compounds were identified in the fermented product, while acids (32.21%) and esters (32.37%) accounted for the largest proportions. The cereal‐based fermented product scavenged DPPH from 200 μmol/L methanolic solution by 55.71%. Probiotic yeast improved the sensory and some functional properties of cereal‐based substrate during fermentation. This is one of the first reports on the volatile composition of cereal‐based functional food produced with probiotic yeast.