నైరూప్య

Evaluation of Antioxidant Properties of Novel Probiotic Food Products and Their Role in Rural Community Development

Aditya Chaudhary*

In recent years, there has been a growing awareness among Indian consumers about the importance of nutrition, health, and quality of food they consume. In modern-day lifestyle, the market has witnessed an increase in the sale of health products amongst the health-conscious consumers globally creating new health food categories. The knowledge about their use and technology to prepare them in a convenient form for domestic use have to be imparted in the Indian rural areas as an affordable product mainly within the lower income group people. Regular use of probiotics could improve the quality of life and reduces the dependence on drugs and medical expenses. Adoption of a Probiotic culture in a country like India to prevent various diseases rather than seeking a cure for them through the production of probiotic foods at the household level is quite inevitable. The present study assesses the feasibility of blueberry, mulberry and noni as a raw substrate for the production of the probiotic blueberry jam, probiotic mulberry juice and probiotic noni juice by lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus plantarum DB-2, Lactobacillus fermentum J-1, Pediococcus acidilactici M-3, Lactobacillus plantarum SK-3, and Pediococcus pentosaceus SM-2). We found that the isolated LABs are optimal probiotics for fermentation with blueberry jam, mulberry juice and noni juice. In this investigation, the results could be an indicator of the development of health-promoting fruit jam and juices. These lacto-fermented jam and juices are a low-cost healthy food product, provide better nutrition and good health to the population.