Fermented oat-based foods offer attractive prospects within the market of non-dairy functional products, since they are suitable substrates for the delivery of probiotic microorganisms, and are significant sources of dietary fiber, both insoluble and soluble such as β-glucan, good quality fat and other phytochemicals important for human health In the present work, whole oat flour was fermented with probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum strains to produce new functional foods with improved nutritional and technological features. Viability of the probiotic and the main technological, physico-chemical, nutritional and sensorial parameters were monitored at 7, 14 and 21 days of cold storage. The microbial survival was higher than 5x10 8 cfu g-1 at the end of the shelf life. After the fermentation step, viscosity was higher in products inoculated with the exopolysaccharide-producing L. plantarum strain Lp90. However, a subsequent viscosity reduction was detected in all the samples throughout the storage period, consistent with the observed concentration decrease of the oat β-glucan. Vitamin B2 content was about twofold higher in products fermented by the riboflavin-overproducing LpB2, and in these samples the riboflavin concentration further increased during cold storage. Highlights Fermented oat-based foods are suitable substrates for delivery probiotic LAB. Riboflavin-overproducing LpB2 increased the vitamin B2 content of oat-based products. EPS-producing Lp90 seems to improve some rheological features.
Due to the increasing interest for healthy foods, the feasibility of using fresh-cut fruits to vehicle probiotic microorganisms is arising scientific interest. With this aim, the survival of probiotic lactic acid bacteria, belonging to Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus fermentum species, was monitored on artificially inoculated pineapple pieces throughout storage. The main nutritional, physicochemical, and sensorial parameters of minimally processed pineapples were monitored. Finally, probiotic Lactobacillus were further investigated for their antagonistic effect against Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157:H7 on pineapple plugs. Our results show that at eight days of storage, the concentration of L. plantarum and L. fermentum on pineapples pieces ranged between 7.3 and 6.3 log cfu g−1, respectively, without affecting the final quality of the fresh-cut pineapple. The antagonistic assays indicated that L. plantarum was able to inhibit the growth of both pathogens, while L. fermentum was effective only against L. monocytogenes. This study suggests that both L. plantarum and L. fermentum could be successfully applied during processing of fresh-cut pineapples, contributing at the same time to inducing a protective effect against relevant foodborne pathogens.
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