July 11/Munich, Germany/Eurekalert -- Probiotic bacteria are gaining popularity worldwide due to its enormous health benefits. However, the production of this functional food has its pitfalls: few probiotic bacterial strains are robust enough to survive conventional production processes. Technische Universitaet Muenchen researchers have developed an environmental friendly process to improve the storage stability of probiotics.
Probiotics, as functional supplements, are good for both the immune system and for intestinal health. But how do they get into the yogurt jar? So far, probiotic bacteria are mostly freeze-dried, before they are used in high concentrations in foods. However, the freeze-drying process is problematic: for some probiotics it means certain death, and it is also quite energy consuming. The probiotics must first be frozen, and in a second step, heat is inserted in the sample to transform the ice directly into steam. Thus, water is removed from the bacterial culture. The TUM researchers from the Chair of Food Process Engineering and Dairy Technology decided to save "detour" and tried to find a drying process that is both gentler and more environmentally friendly.