Dados do Trabalho

Título

GROWTH KINETICS OF Lactobacillus paracasei ON PROBIOTIC PLANT-BASED BEVERAGES

Introdução

Consumer demands for healthier foods and the increasing disadvantages associated with dairy products have driven the development of plant-based probiotic foods. However, the adaptability of the probiotic to the substrate needs to be investigated. This study aimed to evaluate the growth kinetics of Lactobacillus paracasei, a plant-based beverage composed of hibiscus tea and soymilk.

Material e Métodos

The plant-based beverage was developed with 62% hibiscus tea, 32% soymilk, and 6% sucrose. Fermentation kinetics were evaluated at 37 °C for up to 14 h. At regular intervals were evaluated pH, acidity, probiotic count, total phenolic content, anthocyanin content, and antioxidant activity using the ABTS, DPPH, and FRAP methods. In parallel, a control assay (C) was carried out without adding probiotics.

Resultados e Discussão

At the end of fermentation, the probiotic beverage had a pH of 4.5 and 1.8% acidity. The initial probiotic count increased from 6.9 to 9.5 log CFU/mL throughout fermentation. The probiotic beverage showed a 21.5% reduction in total phenolic content over 14 h of fermentation, while C showed a 19.5% reduction in total phenolic content. The anthocyanin content in the control beverage was reduced from 10.8 to 4.7 mg Dp3-Sam/L (p<0.05). However, no reduction was observed throughout fermentation in the probiotic beverage. The antioxidant activity quantified by the ABTS method did not differ (p>0.05) throughout the fermentation in the two samples evaluated (average of 1.25 and 1.3 mM EqT/L, for the probiotic sample and control, respectively). The antioxidant activity measured by the FRAP method revealed that, at 14 h, the control beverage showed lower antioxidant activity (1.2 mM EqT/L). In the DPPH assay, the antioxidant activity of the probiotic beverage decreased (p<0.05) from 1.8 to 0 mM EqT/L.

Conclusão

The data obtained in this study revealed that the high acidity of the beverage may have contributed to increased anthocyanin stability. The mixture of hibiscus tea and soymilk is a suitable substrate for the growth of Lactobacillus paracasei, representing a promising proposal for developing functional beverages.