PRODUCTION OF FERMENTED BEVERAGE BASED ON SOYBEAN WATER-SOLUBLE EXTRACT ADDED FROM MACAÚBA PULP (Acrocomia aculeata (Jacq.) Lodd. Ex Mart.) USING YOGURT CULTURE AND PROBIOTIC LINEAGE

In the face of the growing demand of the consumer market for functional and innovative products, the food industry always search the application of technologies in the development of new products. The fermentation of soybean water-soluble extract (SWE) by lactic acid bacteria, associated with probiotics, allows the development of fermented products non-dairy, nutritional and functional. The use of natural sources may also contribute to the nutritional and functional potential of new formulations, like macaúba fruits (Acrocomia aculeata (Jacq.) Lodd. Ex Mart.), a typical Brazilian palm that has important properties just like the high content of unsaturated fatty acids, dietary fibers, proteins and carotenoids. The objective of the present study was to develop SWE-based fermented beverages added with macaúba pulp, using yogurt culture, Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus e Lactobacillus delbrueckiii subsp. bulgaricus (YF-L812) and probiotic lineage, Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA-5). Three fermented beverage formulations were produced with the addition of pure probiotic culture and mixed culture, constituted by the association of probiotic with yogurt cultures. After processing and packaging, the beverages were stored for 28 days at 7 ± 1 ° C and evaluated for centesimal composition, monitored weekly (0, 7 °, 14 °, 21 ° and 28 ° day), as well as in relation to pH, acidity and cell viability. The results demonstrated that the incorporation of macaúba pulp into the SWE-based fermented beverage increased the levels of all nutrients, with dietary fiber being the most significant component presenting average values of 12.25% (beverage without addition of pulp) and 20.08% (beverage with addition of pulp). Monitoring during storage indicated that fermented beverages by yogurt culture, added and not added to the pulp, maintained viable cell counts of about 7 log CFU / mL throughout the period evaluated with maximum pH and acidity values of 4.52 and 0.34% respectively. In the L. acidophilus-fermented beverages, probiotic viability was decreased by 3 log cycles in the beverage without addition of pulp and 2 cycles in the beverage with addition of pulp, with final counts around 4 log CFU / mL. The values of acidity and pH were 0.33% and 4.47% (without addition of pulp) and 0.34% and 4.52% (with addition of pulp) respectively. In the fermented beverages in which L. acidophilus was added together with the yogurt culture, viability in both beverages was reduced, reaching final values around 3 log CFU / mL. The values of pH and acidity remained constant in both, reaching final values of 4.61 for pH and 0.34% of acidity. It is possible to conclude that the use of macaúba pulp contributed to the nutritional enrichment of beverages, mainly dietary fiber. The yogurt culture and probiotic fermented the SWE, and yogurt culture showed a higher fermentation rate and maintenance of viable cells for 28 days, and the probiotic effect was observed up to the 7th day in the final product.