Study of survival of probiotic strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium and Streptococcus thermophilus and their effect on sensory properties of probiotic dark chocolate during storage at room temperature and refrigerated for 180 days

Increasing public awareness of the benefits of preventing functonal products has led to the selection of food products that are very popular and widely consumed by researchers to improve public health. In this study, probiotic dark chocolate (PDC) Was enriched with Lactobacillus acidophilus, DDS-1®, Bifidobacterium, UABla-12 ™ and Streptococcus thermophilus (TH-4®) in the form of microencapsulation with sodium alginate and resistant corn starch to 60% dark chocolate. Production and survival of probiotics and the effect of the presence of these bacteria on the sensory properties of chocolate during a 180-day storage period at 4 °C and 25 °C (with the aim of determining the storage temperature) by passing through the gastrointestinal simulator and when Intestinal delivery was assessed. During the population maintenance period, all three strains had a significant difference with themselves and other strains in the two storage temperatures and were associated with a decrease (P <0.05). Storage of the product at 4 °C caused the survival of Bifidobacterium population at 7 log cfu/g level, in the other two strains at 8 log cfu / g level and at 25 °C 7 log cfu/g, which indicates the maintenance of probiotic conditions the product was at both temperatures. The results also showed that the addition of these three strains of probiotic bacteria did not have a significant effect (P <0.05) on the sensory properties of dark chocolate due to two storage temperatures, but storage at 25 °C in control and probiotic samples reduced sensory quality. Therefore, storing probiotic dark chocolate at a temperature of 4 °C can make this product last for at least 6 months and be presented to the consumer market as a useful product.