Bifidobacteria in Fermented Dairy Foods: A Health Beneficial Outlook.

Bifidobacteria, frequently present in the human gastrointestinal tract, play a crucial role in preserving gut health and are mostly recognized as beneficial probiotic microorganisms. They are associated with fermenting complex carbohydrates, resulting in the production of short-chain fatty acids, bioactive peptides, exopolysaccharides, and vitamins, which provide energy and contribute to gut homeostasis. In light of these findings, research in food processing technologies has harnessed probiotic bacteria such as lactobacilli and bifidobacteria for the formulation of a wide range of fermented dairy products, ensuring their maximum survival and contributing to the development of distinctive quality characteristics and therapeutic benefits. Despite the increased interest in probiotic dairy products, introducing bifidobacteria into the dairy food chain has proved to be complicated. However, survival of Bifidobacterium species is conditioned by strain of bacteria used, metabolic interactions with lactic acid bacteria (LAB), fermentation parameters, and the temperature of storage and preservation of the dairy products. Furthermore, fortification of dairy foods and whey beverages with bifidobacteria have ability to change physicochemical and rheological properties beyond economic value of dairy products. In summary, this review underscores the significance of bifidobacteria as probiotics in diverse fermented dairy foods and accentuates their positive impact on human health. By enhancing our comprehension of the beneficial repercussions associated with the consumption of bifidobacteria-rich products, we aim to encourage individuals to embrace these probiotics as a means of promoting holistic health.

Fortification/enrichment of milk and dairy products by encapsulated bioactive ingredients.

Bioactive compounds (bioactives) derived from plants and animals, are effective in increasing the safety and health of society through the treatment and prevention of diseases such as cancer. Fortifying conventional foods with bioactives is an accepted strategy by scientists, food manufacturers, and consumers. Milk and dairy products are among the most important foods used in our daily diet and can be a suitable option to deliver bioactives to the body, but there are challenges towards using these compounds in their original unprotected/free form. They can be degraded before reaching the target location in the body and interact with milk compounds, resulting in a negative impact on the quality characteristics of the corresponding foods. Thus, a suitable encapsulation technique can help to protect these sensitive compounds from environmental stresses and the process they encounter during the manufacture of food. This also prevents adverse interactions of bioactives with compounds in milk. This article aimed to review the recent literature about the addition of encapsulated bioactives such as vitamins, essential fatty acids, phenolic compounds, minerals, and enzymes into milk and dairy products, with a focus on common applied bioactives, methods of encapsulation, the interaction of bioactives with milk components, and the challenges facing the use of this technology in the dairy industry.

Daily Intake of a Functional Synbiotic Yogurt Increases Calcium Absorption in Young Adult Women.

BACKGROUND: Foods containing both prebiotics and probiotics (synbiotics) might enhance calcium bioavailability. OBJECTIVES: We investigated the acute effect in young adult women on calcium absorption of consuming (185 mL) a synbiotic yogurt (SYN) containing inulin (4 g) and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (>1 × 107 CFU/mL) compared with a control yogurt (CON). METHODS: Adult normal-weight women (25.0 ± 3.5 y, n = 30) participated in a 3-wk crossover study testing daily consumption of SYN compared with CON. Habitual dietary intake, bone mineral density (BMD), calcium biomarkers, and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D were measured at baseline. Calcium absorption was tested after each phase of the study using a 42Ca oral tracer. Cumulative tracer recovery was measured in 0-4-h,  0-24-h, and 0-36-h urine pools collected postdosing. The SYN/CON tracer ratio from the timed urine pools was the primary outcome. A beneficial response to SYN was defined as 0-36-h SYN/CON tracer ratio >1. RESULTS: Net 42Ca recovered increased over time in each of the SYN and CON urine pools postdosing (Friedman, P < 0.001), with a trend for higher 42Ca recovery in the 0-36-h urine pool postdosing in the SYN (1.14%) compared with the CON (0.90%) study (Wilcoxon, P = 0.07). For CON, the majority of total tracer was recovered in the 0-24-h pool (86%), whereas for SYN only 50% of total tracer was recovered in the 0-24-h pool (Friedman, P = 0.001). The SYN/CON tracer ratio in the 0-36-h pool (1.24) was >1 (Wilcoxon, P = 0.015). About two-thirds (n = 19) of women studied responded to the SYN treatment. Responders had higher vegetable intake (P = 0.03), tended to have higher potassium and calcium intakes (P ≤ 0.08), and had higher total body BMD (P = 0.09), than nonresponders. CONCLUSIONS: Short-term daily consumption of a synbiotic yogurt enhanced calcium absorption relative to a control yogurt in adult women. Given the observed time delays in tracer recovery, enhancement of calcium absorption likely occurred in the large intestine.The study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (study registration ID: NCT03420716).

Co-encapsulation of probiotics with prebiotics and their application in functional/synbiotic dairy products.

Oral administration of live probiotics along with prebiotics has been suggested with numerous beneficial effects for several conditions including certain infectious disorders, diarrheal illnesses, some inflammatory bowel diseases, and most recently, irritable bowel syndrome. Though, delivery of such viable bacteria to the host intestine is a major challenge, due to the poor survival of the ingested probiotic bacteria during the gastric transit, especially within the stomach where the pH is highly acidic. Although microencapsulation has been known as a promising approach for improving the viability of probiotics in the human digestive tract, the success rate is not satisfactory. For this reason, co-encapsulation of probiotics with probiotics has been practised as a novel alternative approach for further improvement of the oral delivery of viable probiotics toward their targeted release in the host intestine. This paper discusses the co-encapsulation technologies used for delivery of probiotics toward better stability and viability, as well the incorporation of co-encapsulated probiotics and prebiotics in functional/synbiotic dairy foods. The common encapsulation technologies (and the materials) used for this purpose, the stability and survival of co-encapsulated probiotics in the food, and the release behavior of the co-encapsulated probiotics in the gastrointestinal tract have also been explained. Most studies reported a significant improvement particularly in the viability of bacteria associated with the presence of prebiotics. Nevertheless, the previous research has mostly been carried out in the simulated digestion, meaning that future systematic research is to be carried out to investigate the efficacy of the co-encapsulation on the survival of the bacteria in the gut in vivo.

Assessment the viability properties of Lactobacillus casei strain using labneh as a carrier.

BACKGROUND: Our study was conducted in two stages; the first stage was to examine the fructose fermentation profile by Lactobacillus (Lb.) casei FEGY9973. The second stage was to investigate the viability properties of Lb. casei either during cold storage of labneh or under simulated gastrointestinal tract (GIT) conditions. METHODS: Labneh as a carrier medium was classified into four treatments; the first one con- tained 2% free cells of Lb. casei as a control. The second, third and fourth treatments used 2% of encapsulated cells of Lb. casei with different capsule materials, including alginate-milk, sodium alginate and κ-carrageenan served as T1, T2 and T3 respectively. The physiochemical, microbiological and sensory properties of labneh during 15 days of cold storage were shown. Moreover, the viability of free and encapsulated Lb. casei sub- jected to some manufacturing and simulated GIT conditions was tested. RESULTS: It was revealed that lactate was the major metabolite in the medium for colonic fermentation, where- as no amounts of ethanol could be detected. Moreover, labneh samples including free cells of Lb. casei had lower pH values than treatments containing microcapsules of Lb. casei. The levels of moisture, acetaldehyde and diacetyle in treatments with different encapsulated materials were increased during the cold storage period. Accordingly, labneh samples with encapsulated Lb. casei had higher sensory scores than the control. In addition, labneh samples with Lb. casei in milk-alginate microcapsules showed a high viability during cold storage and under simulated GIT conditions. A significant decrease in the viability of free or encapsulated Lb. casei was observed at 15 days of cold storage. CONCLUSIONS: Encapsulated Lb. casei by alginate-milk was more resistant during the cold storage period and under simulated gastric conditions than the other two treatments.

Estratégias competitivas e de desenvolvimento de produtos lácteos funcionais: estudos de caso em empresas agroindustriais da região Sul do Brasil / Competitive and product development strategies in functional dairy products: case studies in food processing industries from south Brazil

Esta pesquisa buscou compreender o motivo e o modo como as empresas agroindustriais brasileiras desenvolvem novos produtos e se orientam para o mercado no segmento de alimentos lácteos funcionais. Ela também examina o papel do sistema regulatório nesse processo. Foi utilizada a abordagem de estudos de caso para esclarecer as inter-relações sistêmicas e trade-offs entre os fatores relacionados à inovação. Foi escolhido um desenho de pesquisa com uma unidade de análise (empresas agroindustriais que, recentemente, lançaram novos produtos no mercado de lácteos funcionais) e estudos de caso múltiplos (três empresas agroindustriais da região Sul). Os resultados revelam que as empresas agroindustriais adotam estratégias seguidoras em relação às concorrentes multinacionais. Tradicionalmente, essa é uma estratégia considerada mais segura e exige menores investimentos em P&D e marketing. Contudo, ela corrói a imagem de marca e limita os retornos financeiros das inovações. O comportamento seguidor é resultado de um baixo grau de orientação para mercado e restrita cooperação com parceiros externos. Esse "ciclo vicioso" é reforçado pelas barreiras estabelecidas pelo sistema regulatório.

This multi-case study searched to understand why and how food processing industries develop new products and market orientates to compete in the Brazilian functional dairy market. It also examines the regulatory framework role in this process. We use case studies as an approach to give evidence of the systemic relations and the existent trade-offs among factors related to innovation. We chose a research design with one unity of analysis (food processors that recently launched new products in the functional dairy market) and multiple case studies (three Brazilian dairies of the southern region). The results reveal that the enterprises adopt a second-mover strategy vis-à-vis the multinational competitors. Traditionally, this strategy is considered safer and requires lower R&D and marketing investments. However, it erodes branding and also limits financial returns from innovations. The second-mover behavior is consequence of poor market orientation and restricted cooperation with external partners. This "vicious circle" is also enhanced by barriers established by the regulatory framework.