Quality indicators in lactose hydrolyzed milks and soy beverages from Colombia

Worldwide there is great interest in producing low lactose milk and drinks, such as soy beverages, suitable for consumption by lactose-intolerant people. These products have different carbohydrate compositions, which affect quality indicators derived from Maillard reaction (furosine and 5-hydroxyl-methyl furfural, HMF). In this study, quality parameters have been determined in 11 commercial samples (8 lactose-hydrolyzed milks and 3 soy beverages). Presence of β-galactooligosaccharides in milks (22.2-458.1 mg/100 mL) correlating roughly with the remaining lactose content (1.9-357.7 mg/100 mL). Soy beverages contained α-galactosides in concentrations of 30-75 mg/100 mL. HMF and furosine were detected in all milk samples. In addition, powdered milks subjected to controlled storage (40 °C, a_w 0.44) showed a furosine increase up to 88%. In conclusion, a great composition diversity was observed in the different products, probably favored by the lack of regulation and underline the importance of controlling processing and storage conditions to preserve product quality.

Lactic acid bacteria fermentation to exploit the nutritional potential of Mediterranean faba bean local biotypes

Aiming at evaluating their nutritional profile and pro-technological aptitude, the flour obtained from thirteen Mediterranean faba bean accessions was fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum DPPMAB24W, a lactic acid bacteria strain previously selected for the high β-glucosidase activity. Before fermentation the flours were characterized for the chemical profile, showing wide variability in protein content (that ranged from 24.83% to 30.03%) and α-galactosides concentration. Slight differences were found among the accessions for trypsin inhibitory activity and for the presence of the antinutritional factors condensed tannins and vicine. The heterogeneity observed for the raw flours was flattened after fermentation, although the different composition of the raw matrix affected the starter performances, especially the production of organic acids. Compared to controls, fermented doughs were characterized by higher free amino acids content and higher in vitro protein digestibility, while antinutritional factors concentrations drastically decreased and in some cases they resulted completely degraded. The results obtained in this study confirmed that fermentation can be considered as a major key-factor in valorizing faba bean employment as food ingredient.