Enhancing Nutritional and Organoleptic Properties of Jerusalem Artichoke Tuber through Probiotic Fermentation

Abstract

Abstract Fermented plant-based products are rapidly gaining popularity worldwide. Factors influencing the consumers' choice of such products include not only a desire to improve their health but also to reduce the environmental impact associated with the high consumption of animal products such as meat and dairy. Numerous studies demonstrate that fermentation enhances the bioavailability of nutrients such as amino acids, vitamins, and minerals in plant-based products. Consuming cultures of probiotic microorganisms as part of fermented plant-based products can have a beneficial impact on the digestive and immune systems. This article focuses on the use of different pre-treatment methods on Jerusalem artichoke tubers and the possibility of using fermentation to create new plant-based products with unique organoleptic properties and health benefits. Due to the unfavorable influence on quality indicators of plant dispersions, such as pH level, percentage of dry matter, content of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, fiber, and polyphenols, an increase in minerals, among ultrasound-treated, pre-frozen and untreated samples, a decision was made to carry out fermentation process using untreated raw material. Our study shows that among the various samples of Jerusalem artichoke tuber dispersions fermented with selected probiotic strains, the one with L. bulgaricus provides the most efficient fermentation process: the highest antioxidant activity with a maximum value of 67.5% DPPH activity on day 5 after fermentation; the highest increase of microbial cells during fermentation was recorded to be log10(CFU/ml) = 2.3; the fastest acid accumulation and the best results of sensory estimation were also achieved.