Investigation of a bifunctional food ingredient based on a biopolymer complex of plant origin

Abstract

The article presents the results of studies on organoleptic, structural and mechanical, sanitary and hygienic quality indices and technological characteristics of a functional food ingredient with pro-and prebiotic properties. The technology of obtaining synbiotic is based on the process of immobilization of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria in the framework structure of the prebiotic. The raw material chosen for prebiotic production was a pulp of sugar beet, a product of processing. By physico-chemical composition of sugar beet pulp is capable of sorption of low molecular weight metabolites, toxins, radionuclides, and due to combinations of carbohydrate nature – to normalize the composition of intestinal microbiotics. In addition to using it as a “food” for microorganisms, it contributed to the protection of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria from aggressive conditions of the human digestive tract and was a protector for microorganisms, protecting them from the negative effects of the technological process – the tableting used to give the finished product a final form. The parameters of the tabletting process can affect the quantitative composition of viable microorganisms, which is associated with their deformation in an unprotected state under pressure. The amount of lactobacillus in the finished product, the tablet, was 7·108 CFU/g, and the bifidobacterium was 5·108 CFU/g, corresponding to a probiotic dose of not less than 1·108 g/cm3. An optimal shelf-life of the product, which is 9 months at a temperature of 4 ± 2 °С, was also determined. During storage, the physiological state of the probiotic component of the functional food ingredient remains practically unchanged. The porous structure of the sugar beet biopolymer complex allows the cells to be well positioned and adsorbed on its surface. The extension of the shelf life is ensured by the carbohydrate composition of the biopolymer complex of plant origin.