Lactic Fermentation of Cereal Flour: Feasibility Tests on Rice, Oat and Wheat

Background and objective: Consumers show increasing interests in probiotic foods and lactic acid fermentations. Cereal flour, can be a good fermentable substrate due to its prebiotic nature; from which, synbiotic products can be prepared. The aim of the current study was to investigate if three various cereal flours rice, oat and wheat would be good potentially functional foods.Material and methods: Fermentation tests were carried out on rice, oat and wheat flours, using Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 and 1.5-L fermenter with 1-L working volume. After 24 h, microbial growth, pH value, lactic acid production and starch consumption were assessed.Results and conclusion: In all three flours, pH reduction was seen; particularly in rice flour. The highest Lactobacillus growth and lactic acid production were achieved at the end of rice fermentation. The greatest starch consumption was reported at the end of rice fermentation. In conclusion, lactic fermentation of cereals as potentially functional foods was possible for the three flours. However, the best result belonged to rice flour.Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The Kraft Heinz Company global nutrition targets for the innovation and reformulation of food and beverages: Current and future directions

Reformulating packaged foods has the potential to improve the nutrient density of the global diet. The present perspective illustrates The Kraft Heinz Company’s approach to product (re)formulation to develop healthier product lines that are lower in saturated fats, total sugars, and sodium, and contain health promoting components. Here we present the rationale for The Kraft Heinz Company’s global nutrition targets used for the global innovation and renovation of foods and beverages. The global nutrition targets use a category specific approach to set maximum levels for the main nutrients of public health concern: saturated fat, total sugars and sodium, taking into account product characteristics (typical portion size, eating occasion, role in the diet, etc.) as well as regulatory, technological, sensory and safety constraints. Benchmarking examples illustrate how the nutrition targets are positioned within the United States, France, and Australia. These global nutrition targets serve as part of The Kraft Heinz Company’s environmental, social and governance nutrition commitments and demonstrates how the food industry is improving the nutritional value of packaged foods and beverages both now and into the future

Effects of the Glucose Addition during Lactic Fermentation of Rice, Oat and Wheat Flours

 Background and objective: Consumer interests in probiotic foods have increased in recent decades. Food industries respond to these growing interests by developing innovative products and guaranteeing high production efficiency. Cereals, due to their prebiotic nature, are good fermentable substrates; from which, potentially functional foods could be achieved. The aim of this study was to verify effects of D-glucose addition on fermentation of rice, oat and wheat flours.Material and methods: Suspensions of 15% of cereals flours (rice, oat and wheat) in distilled water added with increasing glucose concentrations (2, 5, 7 and 10% w v-1) were fermented by Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 for 24 h. Then, pH, microbial growth and lactic acid production were assessed.Results and conclusion: Rice fermentation was not affected by glucose addition. For oat and wheat, addition of D-glucose increased bacterial concentration, as well as lactic acid production. In particular, the best growth was achieved by the addition of 2 and 5% of glucose. Furthermore, lactic acid concentration increased with increased glucose concentration. In conclusion, D-glucose addition seems to be unnecessary for the improvement of rice fermentation. On the contrary, oat and wheat fermentations need further available carbon sources for a better Lactobacillus growth and a higher lactic acid production.Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest

Celiac disease-associated Neisseria flavescens decreases mitochondrial respiration in CaCo-2 epithelial cells: Impact of Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 on bacterial-induced cellular imbalance

: We previously identified a Neisseria flavescens strain in the duodenum of celiac disease (CD) patients that induced immune inflammation in ex vivo duodenal mucosal explants and in CaCo-2 cells. We also found that vesicular trafficking was delayed after the CD-immunogenic P31-43 gliadin peptide-entered CaCo-2 cells and that Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 (L. paracasei-CBA) supernatant reduced peptide entry. In this study, we evaluated if metabolism and trafficking was altered in CD-N. flavescens-infected CaCo-2 cells and if any alteration could be mitigated by pretreating cells with L. paracasei-CBA supernatant, despite the presence of P31-43. We measured CaCo-2 bioenergetics by an extracellular flux analyser, N. flavescens and P31-43 intracellular trafficking by immunofluorescence, cellular stress by TBARS assay, and ATP by bioluminescence. We found that CD-N. flavescens colocalised more than control N. flavescens with early endocytic vesicles and more escaped autophagy thereby surviving longer in infected cells. P31-43 increased colocalisation of N. flavescens with early vesicles. Mitochondrial respiration was lower (P < .05) in CD-N. flavescens-infected cells versus not-treated CaCo-2 cells, whereas pretreatment with L. paracasei-CBA reduced CD-N. flavescens viability and improved cell bioenergetics and trafficking. In conclusion, CD-N. flavescens induces metabolic imbalance in CaCo-2 cells, and the L. paracasei-CBA probiotic could be used to correct CD-associated dysbiosis

Genetic Algorithms for Optimal Control of Lactic Fermentation: Modelling the <i>Lactobacillus paracasei</i> CBA L74 Growth on Rice Flour Substrate

Modelling and predicting of the kinetics of microbial growth and metabolite production during the fermentation process for functional probiotics foods development play a key role in advancing and making such biotechnological processes suitable for large-scale production. Several mathematical models have been proposed to predict the bacterial growth rate, but they can replicate only the exponential phase and require an appropriate empirical data set to accurately estimate the kinetic parameters. On the other hand, computational methods as genetic algorithms can provide a valuable solution for modelling dynamic systems as the biological ones. In this context, the aim of this study is to propose a genetic algorithm able to model and predict the bacterial growth of the Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 strain fermented on rice flour substrate. The experimental results highlighted that the pH control does not influence the bacterial growth as much as it does with lactic acid, which is enhanced from 1987 ± 90 mg/L without pH control to 5400 ± 163 mg/L under pH control after 24 h fermentation. The Verhulst model was adopted to predict the biomass growth rate, confirming the ability of exclusively replicating the log phase. Finally, the genetic algorithm allowed the definition of an optimal empirical model able to extend the predictive capability also to the stationary and to the lag phases

Genetic Algorithms for Optimal Control of Lactic Fermentation: Modelling the Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 Growth on Rice Flour Substrate

Modelling and predicting of the kinetics of microbial growth and metabolite production during the fermentation process for functional probiotics foods development play a key role in advancing and making such biotechnological processes suitable for large-scale production. Several mathematical models have been proposed to predict the bacterial growth rate, but they can replicate only the exponential phase and require an appropriate empirical data set to accurately estimate the kinetic parameters. On the other hand, computational methods as genetic algorithms can provide a valuable solution for modelling dynamic systems as the biological ones. In this context, the aim of this study is to propose a genetic algorithm able to model and predict the bacterial growth of the Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 strain fermented on rice flour substrate. The experimental results highlighted that the pH control does not influence the bacterial growth as much as it does with lactic acid, which is enhanced from 1987 &plusmn; 90 mg/L without pH control to 5400 &plusmn; 163 mg/L under pH control after 24 h fermentation. The Verhulst model was adopted to predict the biomass growth rate, confirming the ability of exclusively replicating the log phase. Finally, the genetic algorithm allowed the definition of an optimal empirical model able to extend the predictive capability also to the stationary and to the lag phases

Optimization of Mixing Conditions for Improving Lactobacillus Paracasei Cba L74 S Growth During Lactic Fermentation of Cooked Navy Beans and Functional Characterization of the Fermented Products

Lactic acid fermentation of legume-based matrices has been gaining an increasing interest in recent years to produce pro- and post-biotic functional foods at high protein content. The optimization of the main process conditions is necessary to improve bacterial growth, microbial metabolic activity, thus the consequent functional properties of the resulting fermented products. A preliminary study of feasibility about the potential of using a leguminous substrate as growth medium for Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 was already conducted in previous experimentations. In this work, the effect of improving mixing conditions of a cooked navy bean suspension during the lactic acid fermentation process was investigated and some chemical and physical properties of the resulting fermented products were studied to verify their potential application as functional ingredients in food formulations. The mixing system was optimized by designing an impeller that guarantees a more homogeneous distribution of nutrients and avoids concentration gradients that could inhibit the microorganism proliferation. Bacterial growth, lactic acid production, sugar, and starch consumption were compared with those obtained during previous experimentations carried out with a different impeller. The major availability of nutrients in the fermenting medium reached with the customized impeller allowed a faster achievement of the maximum microbial load (1×109 CFU/mL after 14 h of process) and a lower doubling time of 1.53 h. Furthermore, fermentation led to a reduction in water absorption, oil binding, and foam capacity of the fermented bean powders. Total phenolic and flavonoid content and their antioxidant capacity were not influenced by the fermentation process itself but favored by the previous thermal treatment of sterilization