DEVELOPMENT OF BEVERAGES BASED ON BABASSU COCONUT MILK, FERMENTED WITH LACTOBACILLUS CASEI AND STUDY OF PHYSICOCHEMICAL STABILITY AND VIABILITY

The babassu coconut (Orbygnia speciosa)  has great potential  for use in food; almonds represent 7% of the coconut and the milk extracted from them has been used for a  long time by the populations of the north and northeast. The use of babassu almond milk in  the preparation of fermented beverages with probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus casei is a technological alternative to add value to this raw material. Thus, the present work aimed to develop a fermented drink  with babassu almond milk; as well as perform physicochemical and feasibility analyses during  refrigerated storage. The almonds were crushed with water to extract the milk, in a 1:2 ratio.   Eleven formulations were developed with different concentrations of almond milk (26%, 30%, 40%, 50% and 54%) added whey, whole milk and sucrose. After being formulated and pasteurized, they were inoculated with the probiotic culture of Lactobacillus casei 2%  and fermented at  37⁰ C until they reached a pH of 4.7. Sensory analysis was carried out to choose the most accepted beverage, and the  formulation with  50% babassu milk, 20% cheese whey, 30% skim milk reached  acceptance rates (IA) above 70%. This beverage was kept refrigerated at 4⁰ C during the 28 days of storage, with physicochemical and viability analyses every 7 days. The beverages initially with a pH of 6.2 were  fermented with Lactobacillus casei. During fermentation, a rapid drop in pH and an increase in acidity were observed, reaching a pH of 4.7 over a period of 8 hours. In the physical-chemical stability study, the pH of the fermented beverages decreased over time. The pH values ​​decreased     pH values ​​decreased from 4.71 to 3.96 over the 28 days. Total acidity increased from 0.57% to 0.88%. Soluble solids decreased from 12.8% to 12.5% ​​over the storage period. These values ​​are consistent with other probiotic beverages. Cell viability ranged from 8.26 at the beginning to 7.74 log CFU/mL at the end, indicating that the culture remained above 6 log CFU/mL during the 28-day refrigerated storage period, demonstrating that the babassu milk matrix was able to maintain adequate viability. The beverage met the physicochemical and viability standards for a probiotic beverage.