The effect of chia seed (Salvia hispanica) addition on the fatty acid profile and lactase activity of fermented mare’s milk

Abstract

Background. Fermented mare’s milk beverages supplemented with chia and inoculated with mesophilic LAB with probiotic bacteria were produced. Mare’s milk has recently been gaining attention due to its nutraceutical properties. The dominant protein fractions are albumin and globulin. The low fat content is comprised of a distinctive profile. Taking into account the lower casein-to-whey-protein ratio, emulsification and quickly absorbed fat, mare’s milk is more desirable for digestion than cow’s milk. Fermented mare’s milk with chia is free of chemical additives and is a functional dairy product with low fat content and high nutritional value. Materials and methods. The basic chemical composition was determined using DairySpec FT (Bentley Instruments, Chaska, MN, USA). Mare’s milk was pasteurized using a MILKY FJ 15 milk pasteurizer machine. For production beverages with chia, mesophilic LAB with probiotic bacteria BB-12® Probio-Tec™ were used. The fatty acid profiles and lactase activity were determined. Additionally, the atherogenic index (AI), thrombogenic index (TI) and hypercholesterolemic fatty acid index (HcFA) of fat milk samples were calculated. Results. It was found that the lactase enzyme activity of the fermented mare’s beverages with chia ranged from 0.17 (in fermented milk with 3 weeks storage) to 0.84 μkat∙100 g-1 immediately after production. The number of probiotic bacteria remained unchanged in the fermented beverages for the first 2 weeks of storage. After this time, the number of Bifidobacterium decreased by 11%. The addition of chia seeds increased the Σ UFA and Σ MUFA respectively by about 12.31% and 6.78%. It could be concluded that fermentation and chia can improve the nutritional value of the product. Conclusion. The analyses conducted in this study demonstrate that it was possible to produce fermented mare’s milk with chia seed (Salvia hispanica) addition increasing the Σ UFA and Σ MUFA.