A B S T R A C TFenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum), native to southern Europe and Asia, is an annual herb with white flowers and hard, yellowish brown and angular seeds, known from ancient times, for nutritional value beside of it medicinal effects. Fenugreek seeds are rich source of gum, fiber, alkaloid, flavonoids, saponin and volatile content. Due to it's high content of fiber, fenugreek could be used as food stabilizer, adhesive and emulsifying agent to change food texture for some special purposes. Some evidences suggest that fenugreek may also be regarded as antidiabetic, anticarcinogenic, remedy for hypocholesterolemia and hypoglycemia, antioxidant, antibacterial agent, gastric stimulant, and anti-anorexia agent. The present article is aimed to review the potential applications of fenugreek as a functional food and nutraceutical.

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In this study, the effects of addition of artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) leaf extract into yogurt (0 or 0.5%) on biochemical parameters (pH, titrable acidity) and the viability of probiotic bacteria (Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-5, Bifidobacterium lactis BB-12) during fermentation and over 28 days of refrigerated storage (4°C) were investigated. Moreover, the amounts of syneresis, total phenolic content, antioxidant activity and sensory attributes of yogurts at the end of fermentation were assessed. Yogurts contained the two yogurt bacteria (Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus: ABY) or only S. thermophilus (ABT) as adjunct culture to probiotics. Yogurts containing Cynara scolymus L. (ABT-C and ABY-C) had faster acidity increase, shorter incubation time and greater final titrable acidity than control yogurts (ABT and ABY). Also, yogurts containing Cynara scolymus L. had lower syneresis, higher total phenolic content and greater antioxidant activity. ABT-C yogurt had the ever greatest viability of probiotics. In case of samples sensory evaluation, generally, the highest total score was related to ABT yogurt whereas lowest total score belonged to ABT-C yogurt.

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Background and Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to investigate effects of various heat shock conditions and fast freezing and subsequent thawing on the viability and recovery of Bacillus coagulans and Bacillus subtilis as probiotic sporeformers, and also to compare spore plate and microscopic counts. Materials and Methods: After preparing the final suspensions of B. coagulans and Bacillus subtilis subsp. Natto spores, they were spread-plated before and after fast freezing treatment (-70°C for about 1 min). Heat shock treatments of the spores were carried out at 68 o C for 15, 20, and 30 min as well as at 80 o C for 10 and 15 min. Concentrations of the examined probiotic sporeformers were determined simultaneously by plate enumerations and microscopically determined counts. Student's t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) of SPSS were used for statistical analysis of the data. Analysis of DoE results was carried out using Minitab. Results: The results presented here show that the highest recovery rates for B. coagulans (14.75 log CFU/mL) and B. subtilis spores (14.80 log CFU/mL) were under a heat shock condition of 68°C for 20 min in nutrient agar (p<0.05). In addition, the survival rates of B. coagulans and B. subtilis spores under the fast freezing and subsequent thawing condition were about 90% and 88%, respectively. Plate counts differed significantly from counts determined microscopically, with differences of almost 0.5 and 0.8 log for B. coagulans and B. subtilis spores, respectively (p<0.05). In addition, DoE results of the study revealed that both factors of spore count method and only freezing factor in fast freezing treatment have a significant effect on concentrations of the spores examined (p<0.05). Conclusions: Heat shock conditions, freezing and subsequent thawing circumstances, and plate counts or enumerations determined microscopically have significant influences on the viability of probiotic sporeformers and should be considered in determining of their accurate concentrations.

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