The aim of the project is to develop new biofunctional natural fruit juices containing probiotic bacteria and other biofunctional components (ω3 fatty acids, vitamin D), which will not change their quality and organoleptic characteristics and will add value to these products thus preventing pathological conditions in humans, promoting health and maintaining quality of life. Efficient encapsulation systems will be developed to ensure the functionality and viability of the added probiotic cultures at sufficient levels (>6 logcfu/g) and to maintain the biofunctional components in the stressful environment of juices (low PH) and the adverse conditions during processing (temperature, pressure), handling and storage of these products in addition to the unfavorable conditions prevailing in the human gut. Whey protein will be used as encapsulating material, which will enhance the protein content of the products, while at the same time will contribute to the utilization of whey, a particularly environmentally damaging waste. In parallel, an easy-to-use prediction software will be developed for the viability of probiotics in juices and in other products containing probiotics, which will be a tool for determining the shelf life of these products containing the lowest acceptable concentration of probiotics.
The above will be achieved through the following specific objectives:
– Development of encapsulation systems including the development, construction and characterization of structured release systems.
– Assessement of the effectiveness of the developed encapsulation systems to increase the viability and control of probiotic cell. metabolism, and maintain the added biofunctional components (ω3, vitamin D) during processing, distribution and storage of fruit juices.
– Development and validation of mathematical models to predict the survival of encapsulated probiotics in juices, in order to develop a prediction software that can be used to efficiently design products and determine their shelf life.
– Development of microcapsules and application of the encapsulated probiotics/components in juices on a pilot scale with simultaneous market research.
– Estimation of the viability of encapsulated probiotics and their effect on health with clinical trials.
– Exploitation of results, dissemination and training with a view to promoting them and protecting intellectual property rights.