New fermented functional product based on soy milk and sea buckthorn syrup

The possibility of producing beverages based on soy milk-sea buckthorn syrup, fermented by Lactobacillus casei ssp. paracasei strain was examined. Our results show that the viable cell counts and acidity increased, while water holding capacity of the fermented samples decreased with the increase in sea buckthorn syrup concentration from 5 to 20%. Lactobacillus casei strain had a good survival (1.3x10(11) CFU mL(-1) for the beverages with 20.0% sea buckthorn syrup fermented at 37 degrees C) in ready to serve beverage when stored at 4 degrees C and may survive the passage through the human gastro-intestinal tract. In case of the sample with 5% sea buckthorn syrup, the total number of L. casei cells surviving after 120min of gastric and intestinal conditions was 23 and 24% for the fermentation temperatures of 30 and 37 degrees C, respectively. Therefore, the soy milk-based beverages tested in the present study can be successfully classified as probiotic products.