Chapter 12 - Non-dairy prebiotic, probiotic, and synbiotic beverages

Abstract

Beverages are natural or artificial liquid substances, which may or may not contain nutrients, used for human consumption, and there are two types, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages. Nonalcoholic beverages include functional beverages, which contain bioactive compounds that confer health benefits in addition to essential nutrients. The growing need for functional foods (including beverages) due to changes in eating habits due to the population's health problems requires the creation of new products with health benefits. Among the main ingredients of functional beverages are prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics, which have been shown to have beneficial effects on health, mainly in the modulation of the intestinal microbiota, prevention, and control of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and obesity. The plants produce prebiotic and synbiotic beverages, vegetables, cereals, and legumes. These types of matrices have been explored for the creation of new fermented and nonfermented beverages, whether they contain in their composition prebiotic carbohydrates as fructooligosaccharides, galactooligosaccharides, xylooligosaccharides, inulin, among others. Or, by the modification of sugars by enzymes or microbial fermentation, added or not, with probiotic bacteria such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium or a combination of prebiotics and probiotics, known as synbiotics. In addition, vegetable matrices have other bioactive compounds in their composition, such as polyphenols, which provide functional properties. This chapter aims to analyze the sources of nondairy prebiotic, probiotic, and synbiotic beverages, the challenges involved in the chemical stability of prebiotics, the viability of probiotics, microbiological quality, sensory acceptability, and the commercialization of these products.