Alginate beads to improve viability of Lactobacillus plantarum to heat stress

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Application of probiotic delivery systems in meat products

Background: In recent years, probiotic foods have received special attention. The most commonly used probiotic microorganisms are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, and to a lesser degree, Enterococcus and Pediococcus due to their importance for consumer health. Probiotics have also been used as food bioprotectors. Scopes and approach: This review addresses the potential use of different probiotic delivery strategies for use in meat products to guarantee the viability of the microorganisms throughout the different stages of processing, conservation and preparation, the aim being to obtain probiotic meat products (in some cases even combined with prebiotics) with a positive impact on consumer health. Key findings and conclusions: In the case of meat products, these studies have mostly focused on fermented meats and, to a lesser degree, on cooked frankfurter-type products or fresh products because the processing to which they are subjected does not guarantee full viability of the microorganisms. Traditionally, starters as free cells have been used to incorporate these microorganisms into meat products. More recently, new microorganism immobilization techniques such as encapsulation have been tested. These new strategies ensure enhanced viability even in meat products subject to thermal treatment during processing or cooking.Peer Reviewe

Effect of encapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum as probiotic on dry‐sausages during chilled storage

The impact of free and encapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum addition on the physicochemical and microbiological properties during chilled storage (60 days) of dry‐fermented sausages have been studied. Control (C) treatment was performed without probiotic incorporation, and the reformulation was comprised of L. plantarum as free cells (F) in alginate spheres (EA), in water‐in‐oil simple emulsion (ESM) and in water‐in‐oil‐in‐water double emulsion (EDM). After 60 days of storage, lower (P < 0.05) lipid oxidation was observed in F and EA (0.602–0.625 mg MDA kg−1) while it was higher (P < 0.05) in EDM (1.949 mg MDA kg−1). Treatments C and ESM presented intermediate TBARS levels compared to other treatments at the end of storage. All dry‐fermented sausages presented high levels of lactic acid bacteria during the whole chilled storage (8.06–9.29 log CFU g−1 at day 0 and 8.02–9.35 log CFU g−1); however, EA treatment presented the highest L. plantarum viability even at 60 days of storage (8.34 log CFU g−1). Therefore, the strategy of L. plantarum inoculation in alginate spheres seems to be the best strategy for the delivery of probiotics during chilled storage of dry‐fermented sausages.This research was supported by Intramural Project 201447E073. The authors would like to thank Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Ministry of Education of Brazil for the fellowship to Carlos Pasqualin Cavalheiro through the process BEX 8146/2014‐4. Claudia Ruiz‐Capillas is member of the HealthyMeat network, funded by Programa Iberoamericano de Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarollo (CYTED) (ref. 119RT0568).Peer reviewe