Fortification of Cereal-Based Food with Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Bacillus coagulans GBI-30 and Their Survival During Processing

Abstract

Functional foods are evolving beyond basic nutrition to address nutrition-related diseases and enhance well-being. While probiotic-fortified products dominate this sector, most remain dairy-based. This study investigated the incorporation of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Bacillus coagulans GBI-30 into cereal-based pasta and noodles, evaluating bacterial survival during processing and cooking. Extrusion-based pasta production exerted greater stress on Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, whereas Bacillus coagulans GBI-30 demonstrated higher thermal resistance. In sheeted noodles, both strains maintained ≥8 log CFU/g viability pre-cooking. After 7 min boiling, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG retained 6.88 log CFU/g and Bacillus coagulans GBI-30 5.75 log CFU/g in noodles, meeting the recommended 10⁶-10⁷ CFU/g threshold for probiotic efficacy. Cooking performance analysis revealed lower cooking loss in noodles (2.4-4.04%) versus extruded pasta (10.6-19.05%), indicating superior structural integrity. These results confirm cereal matrices as viable non-dairy carriers for probiotics, with sheeting processes better preserving bacterial viability than extrusion. The findings highlight a practical strategy for developing functional foods that sustain probiotic viability through processing and consumption, potentially enhancing gut microbiota balance. This approach expands probiotic delivery options beyond traditional dairy formats while maintaining therapeutic bacterial concentrations critical for health benefits.

Keywords: Bacillus coagulans GBI-30; Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG; noodle; novel foods; probiotic; viability; wheat-flour pasta.

Figure 1

Images of noodle production from semolina flour (a), fresh dough (b), neat sheet (c), fresh noodle (d), and dried noodle (e).

Figure 2

Viability of LGG (a) and BC30 (b) (log CFU/g) during the production of probiotic-fortified pasta and noodles. Values with different letters (for either pasta or noodle samples) are significantly different (p < 0.05).

Figure 3

Viability of LGG (a) and BC30 (b) (log CFU/g) during the drying and cooking process of probiotic-fortified noodle samples made by cutting. Values with different letters are significantly different (p < 0.05).