DEVELOPMENT OF ARABICA COFFEE BREWS VIA FERMENTATION WITH SELECTED PROBIOTICS

Abstract

Amid inclinations towards non-dairy probiotic foods and functional coffees, this dissertation aimed to develop shelf-stable probiotic fermented coffees, which are rich in live probiotics and are well evidenced to elicit functional benefits. To stimulate probiotic growth in nutrient-scarce coffee brews, coffee brews were supplemented with glucose and inactivated yeast derivatives. After nutrient supplementation, probiotic lactobacilli including Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 299v, Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM etc. could grow and maintain viable populations >7 Log CFU/mL for a maximum of 10 weeks at 4 °C. Probiotic lactobacilli viabilities were further enhanced beyond 10 weeks, for a minimum of 6 months under ambient and cold storage when co-cultured with the probiotic yeast, Saccharomyces boulardii CNCM-I745. By employing an untargeted LC-QTOF-MS/MS approach, bioactive metabolites produced by probiotics (e.g., catabolites of aromatic amino acids and chlorogenic acids) were also uncovered. Overall, co-culturing probiotic lactobacilli with yeast may be effective in developing viability-enhanced probiotic functional foods.