Fermented Cream for Curd Fortified with Probiotic Cultures: Biotechnological Aspects

Introduction. Contemporary food industry strives to increase the production volume of high-quality and biologically complete protein products. The Foodnet market also raised the demand for functional foods in Russia. The research objective was to develop a new functional curd product fortified with probiotic microflora. Study objects and methods. The study featured cow’s milk, skimmed milk, cream, whey protein concentrate Milkiland-WPC 80, pollen, glutamine, starter cultures DVS Danisco Probat 576 and Howaru Bifido ARO-1, buckwheat flour, and oat flour. The experiment included physicochemical, sensory, biochemical, and microbiological methods. Results and discussion. The milk-protein base of the curd product was produced in a GEA Westfalia KDB 30 curd separator. The research involved 15 and 20% cream with two different starter cultures. In case of 15% cream, Probat 576 Howaru Bifido appeared to be 1.66 times more active than ARO-1 Howaru Bifido, in case of 20% cream the result was even higher – 1.73 times. Probat 576 also demonstrated a better active acidity, i.e. 5.5 after three hours, which was two hours faster than ARO-1. Mathematical modeling revealed the positive effect of buckwheat and oat flour on the cream fermentation process. Oat flour (5%) was the optimal prebiotic, while buckwheat flour added its color to the final product, thus spoiling its market quality. Conclusion. The new biotechnology for a curd product fortified with probiotic cultures can expand the range of functional products for sports diet.

Effect of inulin and oat flour on viability of probiotics and physicochemical properties of reduced fat synbiotic ice cream

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the viability of probiotics, physicochemical and sensory properties of reduced fat synbiotic ice cream.Design/methodology/approachThe treatments were as follows: control was made by the addition of Lactobacillus salivarius NBIMCC 1589 and Lactobacillus crispatus NBIMCC 2451 (1:1). The treatments (T1, T2 and T3) were made with the addition of L. salivarius NBIMCC 1589 and L. crispatus NBIMCC 2451 (1:1) + 2% oat flour, 2% inulin and 4% oat flour + inulin (1:1). Physiochemical parameters (pH, moisture, fat, protein, fibre, ash, overrun, first dripping time and melting rate) were determined.FindingsThe ice cream with inulin and oat flour had lower moisture content, which was recorded 70.41, 69.88 and 68.82% for T1, T2 and T3, respectively. While the protein, fat and ash content of treated samples increased. The highest acidity (0.43%) was recorded in T3. The overrun increased by around 43% in T3 compared with control. The viable counts of probiotics were significantly (p = 0.05) decreased by two or three log cycles. Finally, T3 received the highest sensory score, which could be due to the combination between oat flour and inulin.Originality/valueA novel ice cream was produced using a combination of inulin and oat flour, which enhanced the viability of added probiotics. Reduced fat synbiotic ice cream was a good carrier for probiotics, which facilitates the production of healthy dairy products.

Filamentous Fungus Aspergillus oryzae for Food: From Submerged Cultivation to Fungal Burgers and Their Sensory Evaluation—A Pilot Study

New food sources are explored to provide food security in sustainable ways. The submerged fermentation of edible filamentous fungi is a promising strategy to provide nutritious and affordable food that is expected to have a low environmental impact. The aim of the current study was to assess the novel use of Aspergillus oryzae cultivated in submerged fermentation on oat flour as a source for food products that do not undergo secondary fermentation or significant downstream processing. The fungus was cultivated in a pilot-scale airlift bioreactor, and the biomass concentration and protein content of the biomass were assessed. A tasting with an untrained panel assessed consumer preferences regarding the taste and texture of minimally processed vegetarian and vegan burger patties made from the biomass, and how the patties fared against established meat-alternative-based patties. The cultivation of Aspergillus oryzae resulted in a yield of 6 g/L dry biomass with a protein content of 37% on a dry weight basis. The taste and texture of the minimally processed fungal burger patties were to the liking of some participants. This was also reflected in diverse feedback provided by the participants. The cultivation of the fungus on oat flour and its utilization in developing burger patties shows its promising potential for the production of nutritious food. The applications of the fungus can be further developed by exploring other favorable ways to texture and season this relatively new functional food source to the preferences of consumers.

The study results of biochemical properties of naked oats and physical properties of the dough mixtures with wheat flour

Adding oat products to composite mixtures during baking increases the biological value of a new product. The purpose of the current study was to assess the biochemical properties of grain of the naked oat varieties ‘Baget’ and ‘Bekas’, to establish the rheological parameters of dough mixtures obtained by mixing white oat flour and whole grain flour with high-quality wheat flour according to the farinographic analysis. The introduction of oat products into the mixture affects the structural and mechanical indicators of the dough and can improve or worsen the quality indicators of bakery products. It is the decoding of the diagrams (Brabender farinograph, Chopin alveograph, etc.) that satisfy the questions related to the study of dough, with the characteristics of the physical properties of dough. There has been established a high nutritional grain value of the naked oat varieties (whole grain and white flour), when the protein percentage was on 5.3–7.6% more than in wheat flour and oil content was almost 6–5 times higher, which indicated great opportunities for using this grain crop in bakery. The study of the rheological parameters of dough showed that in composite mixtures the type of ingredients (whole grain flour, white flour) and the proportion of naked oats products (10, 20, 30%) differently affect the physical properties of dough, i.e. in relation to premium wheat flour, dilution of dough increases on 40–140 u.f., resistance of dough to extension (stability) reduces on 2.5–6.0 min and valorigraphic number reduces on 10–36 u.v. When mixing with white oat flour compared to whole grain, the physical properties of the dough are characterized by the best indicators, however, the introduction of whole-ground oat flour in the mixture retains all the benefits of oat grain. There were no significant differences between the naked oat varieties ‘Baget’ and ‘Bekas’ in the effect on the rheological parameters of the dough. When using oat flour in mixtures, there was identified a tendency to deterioration of the physical properties of dough, the differences were significant in terms of the resistance of dough to extension (stability) and valorigraphic number.

Heat-induced reduction of deoxynivalenol and its modified forms during flaking and cooking of oat

Deoxynivalenol (DON) and its modified forms deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside (DON-3G) and 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (3-ADON) are common contaminants in Norwegian oats. In order to provide more information about the fate of these mycotoxins during oat processing, the levels of DON, DON-3G, 3-ADON and the sum of them (total DON) were determined using LC-HRMS/MS at different processing steps. Oat groat was softened by either steaming or conditioning, rolled into flakes of two thicknesses, and subsequently cooked to produce flake porridges. Flour of oat groat (untreated or kilned) was cooked to flour porridges. The flaking process had major effect on the mycotoxin levels in resulting flakes, with significant impact for type of softening regime, but not for flake size. Steam-softening caused the largest reduction of DON, DON-3G and total DON in flakes, retaining 41, 60 and 46%, respectively, compared to oat groat. In contrast, 3-ADON in flakes was most reduced by conditioning, to 29% of the levels in oat groat. Cooking to porridge from flakes did not result in any additional mycotoxin reduction, though significant impact of flake size was shown in the final porridges, with highest reduction of total DON in the porridges originating from steamed thick flakes. Cooking porridge from untreated oat flour gave significant reduction in mycotoxin levels, however not for kilned oat flour which had already undergone reduction during kilning. In conclusion, the study shows that processes involving heat-treatment, i.e. kilning, steaming or cooking, efficiently reduced total DON in oats during flaking and porridge cooking, and reduction is dependent on previous processing steps.