Authors : MINELLY RODRIGUES, SUBHADRA MANDALIKA AND SAHAYOG N JAMDAR
Page Nos : 241-243
Description :
Probiotics are live microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host. Exposure to heat stress during food product applications can lower their viability. Hence, the influence of a food matrix [fermented finger millet- soybean (FM-SY) blend] prepared using malted, irradiated or enzymatically treated commodities on the survivability of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) under heat stress (40°C-70°C) for 10 min was assessed in the current study. Presence of the LAB in the medium of FM-SY enhanced their survivability under heat stress as compared to free cell suspensions (FCS) (p<0.05). The desirable probiotic counts of > 7 log cfu/ ml were maintained (p>0.05) up to 55°C and 50°C in case of FM-SY blends and FCS respectively. A progressive reduction in cell counts was observed above these temperatures along with an increase in time. No viable counts were detected in FM-SY blends and FCS at 70°C and 65°C respectively. The survivability did not differ remarkably with the use of different processed blends of FM-SY and the use of FCS of different LAB (p>0.05). The results showed that the food matrix of finger-millet soybean had an immense positive impact on the viability of LAB exposed to heat stress. Hence, such foods can be used as protective components for improved survivability of probiotics in product development that involves application of heat.
Keywords: Probiotics, Finger millet, Soybean, Heat stress
