Plant polysaccharides, as prebiotics, fat substitutes, stabilizers, thickeners, gelling agents, thickeners and emulsifiers, have been immensely studied for improving the texture, taste and stability of fermented foods. However, their biological activities in fermented foods are not yet properly addressed in the literature. This review summarizes the classification, chemical structure, extraction and purification methods of plant polysaccharides, investigates their functionalities in fermented foods, especially the biological activities and health benefits. This review may provide references for the development of innovative fermented foods containing plant polysaccharides that are beneficial to health.

This study was aimed to assess the effects of eucalyptus extracts on the shelf life of passion fruit juice. The pressing and the hydro-distillation approaches were performed to obtain the passion fruit juice and the eucalyptus extracts, respectively. A mixture of passion fruit juice and eucalyptus extracts at different concentrations (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40%) were stored at ambient temperature for 18 days. The yeast and molds (YM), total coliform (TC), and growth of total viable count (TVC) were evaluated every 3 days. Compared to the control group, all treatment groups with eucalyptus extracts inhibited microbial growth and the inhibition increased as time elapsed. Obviously, after 3 days, 40% concentration was significantly inhibited colon-forming of YM, TC, and TVC by 100, 58.3 and 100%, respectively. Diversely, 10% concentrations inhibited their growth by 7.9, 5.3, and 31.5%, respectively. However, On the 18 th day, no microorganism colonies formed except for TVC at a concentration of 10% with an inhibition of 42.2%. This approach can be an efficient method for preserving passion fruit juice, thereby exacerbating the growth of microorganisms.

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