Use of whey permeate containing in situ synthesized galacto-oligosaccharides for the growth and preservation of Lactobacillus plantarum

MARINA GOLOWCZYC; CARLOS VERA; MAURICIO SANTOS; CECILIA GUERRERO; PAULA CARASI; ANDRES ILLANES; ANDREA GóMEZ-ZAVAGLIA; E. ELIZABETH TYMCZYSZYN

Journal of Dairy Research

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2013 vol. 80 p. 374 - 381

0022-0299

Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) are prebiotics that have a beneficial effect on human health by promoting the growth of probiotic bacteria in the gut. GOS are commonly produced from lactose in an enzymatic reaction catalyzed by â-galactosidase, named transglycosylation. Lactose is the main constituent of whey permeate (WP), a usually wasted output from the cheese industry. Therefore, the main goal of this work was to optimize the synthesis of GOS in WP using â-galatosidase from Aspergillus oryzaea. WP and whey permeate enzymatically treated (WP-GOS) were used as culture media of Lactobacillus plantarum 299v. Lb. plantarum 299v attained the stationary phase in approximately 16 h, reaching 3.6 and 4.1x108 CFU/ml in WP and WP-GOS, respectively. The in situ synthesized GOS were not consumed during growth. No significant differences were observed in the growth kinetics of microorganisms in both media. After fermentation, microorganisms were dehydrated by freeze-drying and spray-drying and stored. The recovery of microorganisms after fermentation, dehydration and storage at 4 °C for at least 120 days was above 108 CFU/g. These studies demonstrated that WP is an appropriate substrate for the synthesis of GOS and the obtained product is also adequate as culture medium of Lb. plantarum 299v. The coexistence of GOS and dehydrated viable probiotic microorganisms, prepared using an effluent as raw material, represents the main achievement of this work, with potential impact in the development of functional foods.