Development of probiotic gummy candy using the indigenous Lactobacillus plantarum Dad-13 strain; evaluation of its gastrointestinal resistance and shelflife prediction

Nowadays, functional food especially probiotic products have gained more interest, and gummy candy L. plantarum Dad-13 is an innovation. However, the efficacy of probiotics relies on their viable cells and resistance in the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, this research aimed to evaluate the gastrointestinal resistance and probiotic cells' shelf life and investigate gummy probiotics' characteristics. A market survey was carried to understand the consumer's knowledge on the health benefit of probiotics and their product, also intend to buy the product. Gastrointestinal simulation with pepsin and the pancreatic enzyme was conducted to evaluate the gastrointestinal tract's probiotic resistance, probiotic shelf life was evaluated with the Accelerated Shelf-life Test (ASLT). Proximate analysis was carried out according to the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC), and physical characteristics were analysed before and after 90 days of storage at 4oC. The result showed that the supplementation of L. plantarum Dad-13 in the gummy probiotic had an excellent survival during gastrointestinal system simulation with the predicted shelf life was 75.17 days or 2.5 months at 4oC of storage. However, the moisture content of gummy probiotics was more than 20%. Considering the survival of L. plantarum Dad13 during gastrointestinal simulation, it can be concluded that gummy probiotics can be used as a carrier for L. plantarum Dad-13.

Probiotic gummy candy with xylitol: development and potential inhibition of Streptococcus mutans UA 159

Gummy candies are nutritionally poor foods; however, they have a large consumer market. Enhancing these products with nourishing and/or functional matrices is a challenge. This study aimed to develop the features of a gummy candy probiotic, containing Bifidobacterium lactis HN019, and evaluate its effectiveness in inhibiting Streptococcus mutans UA159. The candy was suitable for probiotic development, whose viable bacterial count was 8.54 Log CFU/g in the ready-to-eat product; high viability was maintained during the 28-day shelf life. Additionally, the rate of probiotic survival under in vitro gastrointestinal simulation was 98% and 93% in the ready-to-eat product and after shelf life, respectively. The sensory analysis revealed scores over 8.0 in all attributes evaluated. Lastly, the inhibition test of S. mutans UA159 showed 25% and 98% inhibition, with 10% and 20% xylitol respectively. Probiotic and xylitol gummy candy is a potential functional food and can target a niche food market, such as teenagers.

Effects of Dietary Supplements on the Bioaccessibility of Se, Zn and Cd in Rice: Preliminary Observations from In Vitro Gastrointestinal Simulation Tests

Trace elements such as selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn) are essential elements in the human body, while cadmium (Cd) has no physiological function. A high proportion of people consume dietary supplements to enhance the performance of the body or alter the nutrient contents within the body. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the interaction effects of several popular dietary supplements on the bioaccessibility of Se, Zn and Cd in rice with the hope of identifying dietary supplements that can increase rice Se and Zn bioaccessibility but decrease rice Cd bioaccessibility. The results from in vitro gastrointestinal simulation tests showed that the bioaccessibility of these elements in rice was in the order of Cd (52.07%) > Zn (36.63%) > Se (10.19%) during the gastric phase and Zn (26.82%) > Cd (18.72%) > Se (14.70%) during the intestinal phase. The bioaccessibility of Se during the intestinal phase was greater than that during the gastric phase, and the bioaccessibility of Zn and Cd were the opposite. The bioaccessibility of Se significantly increased in response to vitamin C (VC), vitamin E (VE), vitamin B6 (VB6) and vitamin B9 (VB9), especially VC, which also increased the bioaccessibility of Zn and decreased that of Cd. Procyanidins (OPC), methionine (Met) and coenzyme Q10 (Q10) significantly reduced the bioaccessibility of Se. These results suggest that the reasonable use of dietary supplements can effectively regulate the in vivo contents of trace elements, which provide valuable information for developing health interventions to address problems for specific people, especially selenium-deficient people.

Encapsulation of Lactobacillus acidophilus and different prebiotic agents by external ionic gelation followed by freeze-drying

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the addition of prebiotics rice bran, inulin and hi-maize, on the survival of Lactobacillus acidophilus in alginate microparticles obtained by external ionic gelation followed by freeze-drying. The microparticles size ranged from 127.5μm to 234.6μm. Microparticles added from the different prebiotics demonstrated an increase in the protection of the microorganism, which presented greater viability against the gastrointestinal simulation. As for storage under different conditions, rice bran treatment at 25ºC kept probiotics viable for 30 days. Under storage conditions -18°C and 7°C, treatments containing prebiotics hi-maize and rice bran maintained viable probiotic microorganisms for a period of 60 days.