Intensification of the fermentation process of a plant-based drink with complex starter «Bifido Plus»

Abstract

Relevance. Developing the concept of optimal healthy nutrition increases the demand for the development and production of fortified and functional food products. We propose to use plant-based drinks as a food system for obtaining a probiotic product, which is a source of a number of nutrients. Because the environment in plants isn’t usually good for growing lactic acid bacteria, it’s important to look into different ways to start lactic acid fermentation in these kinds of places.The purpose of these studies is to evaluate ways to intensify the fermentation process of a vegetable drink with a complex starter culture «Bifido plus».Мethods. Research methods include assessment of the increase in microbial biomass, accumulation of lactic acid and exopolysaccharides, and changes in acidity and viscosity of the probiotic drink.Results. The possibility of adaptation of the starter «Bifido Plus» in a plant environment was established, and ultrasonic exposure and the addition of inulin promoted the activation of the fermentation process. In particular, the addition of inulin shortens the lag phase by 0.85 ± 0.05 hours, and exposure to ultrasound treatment increases it by 2.1 ± 0.2 hours. At the same time, the subsequent increase in the volume of biomass accumulation in the sample of the probiotic drink subjected to ultrasound exposure was 60–313% and 28–44% under the influence of inulin. The introduction of inulin and exposure to ultrasound also activate a change in titratable acidity, on average, by 3–15%, the accumulation of lactic acid by 38.7–68%, and the accumulation of exopolysaccharides by 27.3–58.8% relative to the control sample. So, the research results show that ultrasound and inulin can be used to start the fermentation process in plant media. The research was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (RSF) within the framework of project 23-26-10063.