Effect of milk chocolate supplementation with lyophilised Lactobacillus cells on its attributes

Manufacturing of novel foodstuffs supplemented with live probiotic bacteria has recently been intensively investigated. The supplementation of confectionery with probiotics is troublesome since some unit technological processes are conducted at high temperatures and the products are usually stored at ambient temperature. Our group has developed a method of the production of milk chocolate, sweetened with either sucrose or isomalt and aspartame, containing 32, 36, or 40 g/100 g fat, and supplemented with live cells of probiotic bacterial strains: Lactobacillus casei and paracasei. This new milk chocolate displayed the same sensory properties as the reference, probiotic-free chocolate. The number of live bacterial cells was maintained at the functional level of 106 / 108 cfu/g after keeping for 12 months irrespective of the temperature. The highest number of live probiotic bacteria survived in the chocolate kept at 4°C. Thus the product can be regarded as functional food.