Use of pigmented rice as carrier and stingless bee honey as prebiotic to formulate novel synbiotic products mixed with three strains of probiotic bacteria

Abstract

The aim of this study was to produce a synbiotic product containing Thai-pigmented rice as the carrier and the honey of the stingless bee as the prebiotic agent. From antibacterial activity results, all of the tested probiotic bacteria (Limosilactobacillus reuteri KUKPS6103, Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus KUKPS6007 and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei KUKPS6201) had a high ability to inhibit six strains of intestinal pathogens. All three probiotic bacterial strains had high antioxidant activity according to the ABTS and DPPH scavenging assays. The three tested probiotic bacteria produced substantial reductions in the cholesterol removal percentage of 33.9-78.99%. In the prebiotic studies, stingless bee honey had high enhancing activity and the main carbohydrate components were sucrose, glucose and fructose. A synbiotic product was produced containing Thai-pigmented rice grains (cultivars Riceberry, Tubtim Chumphae and Sangyod) and stingless bee honey. During 8 weeks of storage, the viability of the probiotics in terms of mixed-strains was 7.96 ± 0.06 log CFU g -1 (90.25% survival rate). Microbiological safety testing stated that the amounts of contaminants were acceptable. This is the first report of an application of Thai-pigmented rice, stingless bee honey and mixed-culture probiotics as a novel functional synbiotic product.