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Stability of Bacillus Probiotics- Dani Bellmer, Food Process Engineer
The most commonly used probiotics have been Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria, and traditionally these bacteria have been incorporated into yogurt and similar fermented dairy products. More recently, there is a desire to incorporate probiotics into a larger variety of food products, including cookies, snack bars and crackers.
However, these traditional probiotics cannot survive the higher temperatures experienced in many food processes. A number of Bacillus strains with claimed probiotic properties have exhibited superior survivability during food processing. We have begun work to evaluate the stability of different Bacillus strains during processing and in different food matrices. We are currently working with B. Coagulans BC30 and B. Subtilis DE111 and comparing those to Lactobacillus. One hypothesis is that water activity is a key factor in stability of the probiotic, so we are comparing survivability in baked goods as well as different food matrices containing a range of different water activities.
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