Probiotics free essay sample

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food,† the age-old quote by Hippocrates, is certainly the tenet of today. With the growing interest in self-care and integrative medicine coupled with our health embracing baby boomer population, recognition of the link between diet and health has become increasingly strengthened. As a result, the market for functional foods, or foods that promote health beyond providing basic nutrition, is flourishing. Within, the functional foods movement is the small but rapidly expanding arena of probiotics live microbial food supplements that beneficially affect an individual by improving intestinal microbial balance. The consumers’ overwhelming interest in and demand for functional foods, including probiotics, make it imperative that health professionals stay abreast of the latest research findings and available products. The functional food market has been rapidly growing for the past years but the development of new products is still imperative due to the increasing demand for healthy, high quality foods associated to changes in consumers? life-style. Incorporation of probiotics into cereal-based products is therefore desirable since it can combine the healthy formulation of a cereal mixture, the added value of prebiotic ingredients, and the beneficial effects of the probiotic bacteria. Encapsulation techniques have been recently applied to protect probiotic cells from storage conditions in order to increase shelf-life of probiotic products and to overcome other technological hurdles such as the food production stresses. The aim of this research study was to develop process technology for a probiotic cereal bar by microencapsulating probiotics using the method of freeze drying and evaluating the viability of encapsulated probiotics in a cereal bar. A cereal mixture comprising of corn flakes, oat flakes, wheat bran were used to prepare cereal bar. The probiotic strains Lactobacillus casei (MTCC 1423), Lactobacillus acidophilus (NCDC 11), Lactobacillus plantarum (NCDC 414) and Bifidobacterium longum (F8) were microencapsulated using guar gum and xanthan gum as base materials for microencapsulation respectively. The microencapsulated probiotics were added to the cereal bar to a final concentration of 1010 CFU. g-1 of product. Viability above 108 CFU. g-1 was found in the formulated probiotic cereal bar after 3 weeks of storage. This study indicated that it is feasible to incorporate probiotic  bacteria into a cereal bar product, but further studies are required to determine the product shelf-life, viability during gastrointestinal passage and to assure probiotic functionality. RATIONALE OF STUDY The demand of functional food is increasing day by day due to constant health awareness and readily available information on usefulness of different diet and their direct link with health. The concept of functional foods includes foods or food ingredients that exert a beneficial effect on host health and/or reduce the risk of chronic disease beyond basic nutritional functions. Increasing awareness of consumer health and interest in functional foods to achieve a healthy lifestyle has resulted in the need for food products with versatile health-benefiting properties. Within, the functional foods movement is the small but rapidly expanding arena of probiotics – â€Å"live microbial food supplements that beneficially affect an individual by improving intestinal microbial balance. † Dairy foods, fermented and non-fermented, have played important roles in the diet of humans worldwide for thousands of years. Currently hundreds of probiotic dairy products are manufactured and consumed around the world; typical examples include pasteurized milk, ice-cream, fermented milks, cheeses and baby milk powder. Dairy products are the main food carriers for probiotic bacteria to human. Limitations of these products such as the presence of allergens, high lactose and cholesterol contents, and the requirement for cold storage facilities have created the need to look for new probiotic product lines based on non-dairy substrates. Furthermore, the increase in the consumer vegetarianism throughout the developed countries has generated an increasing demand for the vegetarian probiotic products, as well as the demand for new foods and tastes have initiated a trend in non-dairy probiotic product development. Several ranges of non-dairy probiotic products have been developed and marketed in the last two decades. The market available for non-dairy probiotic products include: fruits and vegetable, juices, non-dairy beverages, cereal based products, chocolate based products, meat†¦etc. Even though, the cereal nutritional quality, compared to milk and meat, is inferior because of their lower protein content, deficiency of certain essential amino acids (lysine), low starch availability, anti-nutrients substances (phytic acid, tannins and polyphenols) and the coarse nature of the grains, cereal grains are still considered as one of the most important food sources of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and fiber for large segments of people all over the world. Furthermore, cereal grains are good source of non-digestible carbohydrates that besides promoting several beneficial physiological effects can act as prebiotics that selectively stimulate the growth of Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria in the colon. Considering the above mentioned facts cereal based probiotics may be potential substrates, where the healthy probiotic bacteria will make their way in the global market. Therefore, the non-dairy cereal based probiotic food products should fulfill the consumer’s expectancy and demands for the products that are pleasant and healthy. AIM AND OBJECTIVE The present study was undertaken to develop process technology for microencapsulation of probiotics and their incorporation in cereal bar. The specific objectives are as follows: * Physico- chemical analysis of raw material and finished product. * Evaluation of acid and bile tolerance of probiotic strains before and after incorporation in the cereal bar. * Microencapsulation of probiotics by freeze drying. * Formulation of cereal bar and incorporation of microencapsulated probiotics. Evaluation of sensory characteristics of the formulated cereal bar and viability study of microencapsulated and incorporated probiotics in cereal bar. Flow sheet for Preparation of Probiotic Cereal Bar Procurement of Raw Materials Corn (3-5mm) Oats (3-5mm) Wheat bran (0. 5mm) Jaggery (Melted at 50-60oC) Mix Uniformly Microencapsulation by Freeze Drying Add microencapsulated Probiotics (L. casei, L. plantarum, L. acidophilus, B. longum) Moulding Cool (20 – 250C) Packaging (Polythene Aluminum Laminates) The physico- chemical analysis of the raw materials and the formulated probiotic cereal bar were carried out. The results in case of, raw materials were in accordance with the standard values. In case of, formulated bar the results were compared with other nutritional bars in the market and indicated that the formulated cereal bar can be used as a supplement in diet with added health benefits of probiotics. Acid and bile tolerance studies for probiotics were carried out before as well as after microencapsulation as these are the foremost characteristics to be known for the strains to be regarded as probiotics and the results indicated that the strains were acid and bile tolerant. The probiotic strains were microencapsulated using the method of freeze drying in order to prevent the strains from exposure to heat and other stress conditions. Two base samples were prepared for microencapsulation; the first one comprising of guar gum, inulin and dextrin and the other comprising of xanthan gum, maltodextrin and sucrose. The microencapsulated probiotics were then incorporated in the cereal bar during its preparation. The viability studies of the prepared bar were carried out  for three weeks and the results revealed that probiotics were viable but CFU was decreasing with storage time. Figure-1 Freeze dried microencapsulated probiotic powder Sensory evaluation was done for both Probiotic cereal bars and results indicated that they were liked moderately; however, improvement was required in texture The recipe of the resulting product, i. e. , the probiotic cereal bar included prebiotic ingredients which are considered valuable for the subsequent incorporation of pro biotics. The delivery of beneficial bacteria with the selective growth stimulation by the prebiotic ingredients makes the cereal bar a synbiotic product, with better chances to promote probiotic effects (Steed et al. , 2008). Furthermore, it has been reported that synbiotic products are the most popular among consumers and therefore have higher market value (Annunziata amp; Vecchio, 2011; Bogue amp; Ryan, 2000). Figure- 2 Probiotic cereal bar CONCLUSION In conclusion, the present study showed that the incorporation of probiotics in cereal bars is a feasible procedure, albeit several technological hurdles. However, both physical parameters of cereal bars and probiotic viability during storage are yet to be enhanced. From an efficacy point of view, assays of GI digestion should be performed for each probiotic strain cereal bar, since the exposure to bile salts and acidic conditions in vitro is strain-specific and provides a more accurate evidence of probiotic viability expected after consumption – an important criterion to guarantee a probiotic health effect. Consequently, biological assays would be required to assess whether probiotic functionality is maintained after digestion using, for example, cell culture models to monitor probiotic adhesion or anti proliferative activity. In this way, a steady and consistent scientific ground may be attained in order to deliver a satisfactory product to the final consumer.