Incorporation of Bifidobacterium animalis subspecies lactis BB-12® and Akkermansia muciniphila in chocolate matrices

Abstract

Chocolate is a food product highly popular worldwide, and it has been proposed as a carrier for probiotic delivery. This work evaluated the viability of probiotic strains, Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12® and Akkermansia muciniphila DSM 22959, in chocolate matrices with different cocoa percentages (33.6; 54.5 and 70.5%) throughout 28-days of aerobic storage. The pH, total phenolic content and antioxidant, antidiabetic, and antihypertensive activities were also determined at timepoints of 0 and 28-days. During storage, all chocolates showed high pH stability (variations lower than 1 unit) and it was observed a growing trend in total phenolic content and in bioactivities with the increase of cocoa content in the matrix. Regarding probiotic viability, a higher level for B. animalis subsp. lactis BB-12® was achieved in chocolate containing 70.5% cocoa (estimated in 108 CFU/g after storage). In opposite, A muciniphila DSM 22959 exhibited greater viability in chocolate with 33.6% and 54.5% cocoa (around 106 CFU/g after storage, meeting the minimum required amounts for probiotic products). Conjugating the data from physicochemical properties, bioactivities and probiotic viability, dark chocolate matrices with 54.5% and 70.5% cocoa, may be considered a promising food vector for A. muciniphila DSM 22959 and B. animalis subsp. lactis BB-12®, respectively.