Novel Probiotic/Bacterial Cellulose Biocatalyst for the Development of Functional Dairy Beverage

Abstract

The development of innovative functional products with potential health benefits, under the concept of bio-economy, is flourishing. This study undertook an evaluation of non-dairy lactobacilli Lactiplantibacillus pentosus B329 and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 820 as “ready to use” starter cultures. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) cultures were evaluated for their fermentation efficiency, before and after freeze-drying, using cheese whey (CW) as a fermentation substrate and subsequent immobilization on bacteria cellulose (BC) to produce a novel biocatalyst. The biocatalyst was applied in functional sour milk production and compared with free cells via the assessment of physicochemical and microbiological properties and sensory evaluation. Evidently, LAB strains exhibited high fermentative activity before and after freeze-drying. Results of a 5-month storage stability test showed that viability was 19% enhanced by immobilization on BC, supporting the concept of “ready to use” cultures for the production of fermented beverages. Likewise, sour milk produced by the BC biocatalyst presented higher organoleptic scores, compared to the free cells case, whereas immobilization on BC enhanced probiotic viability during post-fermentation storage (4 °C, 28 days). The obtained high viability (>107 log cfu/g) demonstrated the efficacy of the proposed bioprocess for the production of functional/probiotic-rich beverages. Ultimately, this work presents a consolidated scheme that includes the advantages and the cooperative effect of probiotic LAB strains combined with a functional biopolymer (BC) towards the formulation of novel functional products that coincide with the pillars of food systems sustainability.

Delivery of Probiotics with Cellulose-Based Films and Their Food Applications

“…Moreover, the number of surviving bacteria in the fermented milk after the first batch increased to approximately 11.06 log CFU/g in the recycled batches and remained at this level throughout the tested reusable batches ( Figure 8 b). In another study, Lappa et al prepared a bacteria cellulose (BC) film as a novel biocatalyst for producing functional sour milk ( Figure 8 c) [ 30 ]. In this work, Lactiplantibacillus pentosus B329 and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 820 were selected as starter cultures.…”

Examining the Effect of Freezing Temperatures on the Survival Rate of Micro-Encapsulated Probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus LA5 Using the Flash Freeze-Drying (FFD) Strategy

“…The loss of viability of probiotics during processing, storage, and after digestion has been widely documented [ 3 ], and it has been established that any food claiming to have a probiotic effect should contain at least 10 6 to 10 7 CFU/mL of viable probiotic bacteria [ 4 ], as health benefits are directly related to the number of viable cells present at the time of consumption [ 5 ]. Considering the human health implications of this issue [ 6 ], as well as the economic ones, since the global probiotic market is projected to increase to around USD 110 billion by 2030, new studies should be conducted to search suitable technologies to guarantee its cell viability [ 7 ].…”

Nanobacterial Cellulose from Kombucha Fermentation as a Potential Protective Carrier of Lactobacillus plantarum under Simulated Gastrointestinal Tract Conditions

“…A previous study showed that the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus acidophilus 016 in bacterial cellulose nanofiber developed as a support material had a survival rate of 71% during 24 days of storage at 35 °C [ 9 ]. In another study, BC was used to preserve a probiotic L. plantarum strain prepared in a ready-to-use form for dairy products, retaining viable cells of 8 log CFU/g (from the initial cell number of 10 log CFU/g) after 5 months of storage at 4 °C [ 10 ]. It has also been shown to act as a physical barrier to reduce the deleterious effects of freezing and as a binding matrix for lactic acid bacteria [ 11 , 12 ].…”