STORAGE STABILITY OF MICROENCAPSULATED PROBIOTIC ACEROLA AND CIRIGUELA MIXED JUICE POWDER

During drying process and storage, loss of viability of the dried probiotic cultures can occur, changes in physicochemical characteristics and bioactive compounds. Thus, the aim of this study was evaluate the stability of probiotic juice powder under cold storage (5 °C) and environment temperature (25 °C) at the initial time and after 3, 10, 14, 20 and 45 days of storage. For this purpose, the probiotics Lactobacillus rhamnosus LPAA 01, Lactobacillus casei LPAA 02 and Lactobacillus plantarum LPAA 03 were inoculated at 10% (w/v) (1010 CFU.g-1) in acerola and ciriguela (60/40% respectively) mixed juice which was microencapsulated using mini spray dryer operating with air inlet temperature 140 °C, feed flow rate 0.60 L/h and 10% maltodextrin DE 5. Samples of the probiotic powder product were placed in hermetically sealed glasses with saturated lithium chloride solution a 5 ºC and 25 ºC and characterized for the microbial viability count by pour plate technique, physicochemical properties and bioactive compounds. Results showed there was a significant difference (p <0.05) between the storage times and temperature of all evaluated parameters, however values of water activity, moisture, titratable acidity and pH did not exceed 0.25, 4.40%, 0.56 g acid citrus 100 g-1 and 3.63, respectively, considered stable and safe for dry foods. Soluble solids, color, ascorbic acid, carotenoids and total phenolics remained around 8.00 °Brix, L* 79.55, a* 11.39 and b* 25.61, 4043.52 mg AA/100 g dry mass, 15.89 µg β-carotene/g dry mass and 3095.77 mg EAG/100 g, respectively, presenting favorable characteristics for commercialization and high bioactive properties with potential use as an ingredient. The powders showed viable cell count above 6.0 log CFU.g-1 up to 20 days at 5 °C and 14 days at 25 °C. The results highlighted that fruit juices are indeed promising probiotic carriers for the food industry with various applications.