Production of Probiotic mixture of Barberry and Black cherry juice by lactic acid bacteria

In this study, producing of fermentative functional drinks based on mixture of Barberry and Black cherry juice by lactic acid bacteria, including Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus acidophilus with 0.2% whey powder was investigated. In this paper, microbial growth, changes in pH, lactic acid and reducing sugars were analysed after fermentation, and also viability of probiotic bacteria, changes in pH and lactic acid were determined during 28 days storage at 4⁰C. For producing probiotic mixture of Barberry and Black cherry juice microbial suspension with an initial concentration of 107cfu/ml was prepared. Various ratios of bacteria including(65% Lactobacillus casei + 35% Lactobacillus acidophilus), (50% Lactobacillus casei + 50% Lactobacillus acidophilus) and (35% Lactobacillus casei + 65% Lactobacillus acidophilus) were inoculumed to 5% and 10% concentrations of mixture of Barberry and Black cherry juice with0.2% whey powder. Fermentation process was carried out for 72 h at 30⁰C. According to the obtained results, treatment A1B1 (35% Lactobacillus casei + 65% Lactobacillus acidophilus) with 10% concentration, was detected as the best treatment, because it had the maximum bacterial growth and cell viability, the minimum pH and the maximum amount of lactic acid. Reduction sugar dropped during fermentation(p<0.05). Generally, the results of this study showed that, mixture of Barberry and Black cherry juice with 0.2% whey powder could be considered as a suitable matrix for growth of probiotic bacteria and functional beverage production.