Lactiplantibacillus plantarum CCMA 0743 and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei LBC-81 metabolism during the single and mixed fermentation of tropical fruit juices

Abstract

Fruit juices have shown promising results as new probiotic carriers. This study aimed to evaluate acerola, jelly palm, and passion fruit juices as substrates for fermentation using Lactiplantibacillus plantarum CCMA 0743 and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei LBC-81 in single and mixed cultures. First, the juices were evaluated as substrate and selected based on bacterial growth performance during fermentation. Afterward, the impact of fermentation on sugars, organic acids, and bioactive compounds was also appraised. Phytochemical modification of three different juices fermented by lactic acid bacteria at 37 °C/24 h was evaluated. After 18 h of fermentation, passion fruit juice showed higher cell viable counts of single and mixed L. plantarum CCMA 0743 culture, above 9.00 Log CFU/mL, and pH between 4.07 and 4.10. Sugars consumption and organic acid production were influenced by juice composition and culture used. The mixed culture reduced the total sugars in the passion fruit juice by approximately 53.0% (8.51 g/L). Lactic acid was the main product of the sugars fermentation, with higher concentrations detected in passion fruit juice (8.39-11.23 g/L). Bioactive compounds were analyzed on the selected substrate. The fermentative process reduced antioxidant activity and carotenoid content. However, single L. plantarum CCMA 0743 culture increased the yellow flavonoid content of passion fruit juice by approximately 3.0 µg/mL. L. plantarum CCMA 0743 showed high and suitable cell, viable counts, to claimed probiotic products, increasing bioactive compounds in passion fruit juice. Therefore, this strain and passion fruit substrate showed attractive potential to produce alternative and functional fermented fruit beverages.

Keywords: Chemical composition; Fermented beverages; Functional food; Lactobacillus; Principal component analysis; Probiotic.

Fig. 1

Variations in growth and pH during 24 h of fermentation at 37 °C of acerola, jelly palm, and passion fruit juices fermented by LAB strains. Asterisks indicate greater viable cell counts, regardless of the substrate used and fermentation time. Bars represent the standard error of triplicate measurements of three independent assays. L. plantarum CCMA 0743 monoculture (◊); L. paracasei LBC-81 monoculture (□); L. plantarum CCMA 0743 and L. paracasei LBC-81 binary inoculation (●). The standard errors ranged from 0.01 to 0.29 and from 0.01 to 0.04, respectively, for viability and pH

Fig. 2

Sugars content (g/L) of unfermented juices (A) and sugars consumption (g/L) in fermented juices (B). Bars indicate standard error of sugar content of unfermented juices and sugars consumption in juices fermented with single and mixed cultures of L. plantarum CCMA 0743 and L. paracasei LBC-81 after 18 h of fermentation. The same lowercase letters are not significantly different between treatments within the same study juice at p > 0.05. sucrose (■); glucose (■); fructose (□)

Fig. 3

Principal component analysis of sugars, organic acids, and bioactive compounds of unfermented and fermented passion fruit juices. Control, unfermented juice; 0743, passion fruit juice fermented by L. plantarum CCMA 0743; Mix, passion fruit juice fermented by L. plantarum CCMA 0743 and L. paracasei LBC-81; ABTS, 2,2-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate; PCM, phosphomolybdenum complex method