Abstract
The inoculation of probiotics in beverages (probiotication) requires special technologies, as probiotic microorganisms can experience stress during food processing (acid, cold, drying, starvation, oxidative, and osmotic stresses) and gastrointestinal transit. Survival to harsh conditions is an essential prerequisite for probiotic bacteria before reaching the target site where they can exert their health promoting effects, but several probiotics show a poor resistance to technological processes, limiting their use to a restricted number of food products. Therefore, this paper offers a short overview of the ways to improve bacterial resistance: by inducing a phenotypic modification (adaptation) or by surrounding bacteria through a physical protection (microencapsulation). A second topic briefly addressed is genetic manipulation, while the last section addresses the control of metabolism by attenuation through physical treatments to design new kinds of food.
Highlights
Beverages containing viable cells of probiotics are generally milk-based products, for instance, yogurts [1]
Another concern is linked to the experimental temperature, since most of the studies were performed at refrigeration temperature, even if functional beverages are often stored and marketed at room temperature; it might be interesting to evaluate capsules’ performances at 20–25 ◦ C
Probiotics have to resist certain technological stresses, such as low pH, presence of antimicrobial compounds, high osmotic pressure, and oxygen, and researchers have to face the threat of the effect of probiotics on some sensory attributes
Summary
Beverages containing viable cells of probiotics are generally milk-based products, for instance, yogurts [1]. The fundamental characteristic routinely evaluated in potential probiotic strains is their limited viability loss during gastrointestinal transit, but to date, there is no evidence on whether probiotics, in addition to viability, still maintain their beneficial properties [17] Their performance, can be significantly affected by exposure to certain kinds of stress (acid, cold, drying, starvation, oxidative, and osmotic stresses), which can influence the physiological status and functional properties of bacterial cells [18].
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