PROBIOTIC-ENRICHED GREEN BANANA CHIPS: A HEALTHY SNACK INNOVATION

The promotion of a healthy diet includes the development of nutritious snacks because contemporary society has been consuming an excessive amount of ultra-processed snacks, which have nutritional disadvantages and are associated with chronic diseases. Fruits like bananas are rich in nutrients and exhibit prebiotic potential. The combination of probiotics and prebiotics, known as symbiotics, enhances the beneficial effects of these bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract, although there are challenges in probiotic viability during production and digestion. The objective of this study was to develop a snack using green bananas, incorporating potentially probiotic cells of Levilactobacillus brevis and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, both isolated from fruits. The quality, microbiological aspects, and viability of the snack during storage and survival in the gastrointestinal tract were evaluated. Green banana chips were produced and previously freeze-dried cells of L. brevis and L. plantarum were incorporated. After 30 days of storage at room temperature and in the absence of light, microbiological analyses (enterobacteria, coagulase-positive Staphylococcus, and Salmonella spp.) and physicochemical analyses (pH, titratable acidity, moisture, ash content) were carried out. The viability of potentially probiotic strains added to banana chips during storage was also assessed and simulated in vitro gastrointestinal digestion was conducted over the 30-day storage period. The results of the microbiological evaluation were negative. Regarding physicochemical analyses, the pH was 4.59 ± 0.05, titratable acidity was 0.35 ± 0.02%, moisture was 0.59 ± 0.05%, and ash content was 1.25 ± 0.03%. As for viability, counts of 8.07 ± 0.02 CFU/gram of green banana chips were found after the storage period, and 6.06 ± 0.04 after the in vitro digestion process. After the analyses, it was observed that green banana chips performed well in the assessments and could be an excellent alternative for healthy snacks.