Physico-chemical, nutritional and microbiological profiling of probiotic Aloe vera juice

Abstract

Aloe vera juice is rich in vitamins, minerals, fibers, nutrients, anthraquinones, saponins, phytosterols and salicylic acid. Its composition proves it to be an excellent source of prebiotics and a potential substrate for probiotics. Though Aloe Vera juice has been used for its medicinal and health benefits since ages, its value addition by converting it into a synbiotic is lesser exploited so far. This investigation involves physicochemical, microbiological, antioxidant and sensory evaluation of probiotic Aloe vera juice developed at the lab scale by using Lactobacillus acidophilus MTCC 10307. The probiotic culture was inoculated into the Aloe vera juice with initial concentration of 109-1010 CFU/ml. The probiotic viability, pH, total soluble solids (TSS), titrable acidity, total sugars, reducing sugars, non-reducing sugars, lactic acid content, anti-oxidant activity, vitamin C and microbial contaminations were measured at weekly interval upto six weeks. The probiotic viability remained above 8 log CFU/ml during the first four weeks of storage at 4°C. The total plate count, coliform count and yeast and mould count also remained within satisfactory limits. The sensory evaluation of aloe vera juice with and without probiotic inoculation revealed it to be potential synbiotic product.