PREBIOTIC AND ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF A FERMENTED PLANT BASED BEVERAGE WITH ADDITION OF UVAIA (Eugenia pyriformis) PULP DURING in vitro DIGESTION

Over the years, the increase in the search for plant-based foods as alternatives to animal proteins stands out. Allied to this interest, probiotic and prebiotic functional foods are also of great interest to consumers. Recent studies indicate that phenolic compounds can act as prebiotic compounds, modulating the intestinal microbiota. In this sense, the objective of this work was to analyze the prebiotic potential of uvaia pulp added (0%, 5% and 10%) to a fermented vegetable beverage manufactured with pea and rice proteins in addition to the antioxidant potential evaluation during in vitro digestion. In vitro digestibility was performed following the simulation assay adapted from INFOGEST, which analyzed the probiotic behavior (Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG) and bioaccessibility of bioactive compounds (total phenolics content and antioxidant activity by DPPH and FRAP) during the oral, gastric and intestinal (48h) phases. The initial viable cells count of the probiotic bacteria L. rhamnosus GG in 0%, 5% and 10% uvaia pulp beverage corresponded to 9,30, 9,44, 9,45 log CFU g-1, respectively. The addition of uvaia pulp showed greater protection to the probiotic in the gastric stage, probably due to the presence of gallic acid in these samples, which acted as a protector under these conditions. The high counts of viable cells remained throughout the passage through the gastrointestinal system, including the ileum stage, where it effectively has the greatest potential for probiotic action. At the end of the intestinal phase (48h), the control samples (106.89%) and samples with 5% of uvaia pulp (109.38%) had higher survival rates compared to the sample added with 10% of uvaia pulp (102.20 %). On the other hand, the total phenolic content at the end of the gastrointestinal simulation (48h) also was equal (p > 0,05) between 0% and 5% uvaia pulp samples (0,61 and 0,54 mg GAE. mL-1, respectively) and higher (p < 0.05) for 10% sample (1,29 mg GAE. mL-1). The same behavior occurs for antioxidant activity of 0%, 5% and 10% samples by DPPH (4,06, 3,96 and 8,44 mg Trolox.mL-1, respectively) and FRAP (917,02, 863,87 and 1983,23 µM Trolox.mL-1, respectively). Thus, all counts were high (> 9 log CFU g-1), indicating that regardless of the addition of 5% uvaia pulp or not, the vegetable beverage based on pea and rice protein represents a promising alternative for carrying L. rhamnosus GG. However, the addition of 10% of uvaia pulp in a vegetable drink is not recommended due to the inhibitory activity presented against L. rhamnosus GG due to the higher antimicrobial activity of phenolic compounds.