Abstract

Nutritionally enhanced probioticated whole pineapple juice (WPJ, comprising juice of pineapple pulp and peel) beverages were produced by fermentation of WPJ with the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus plantarum WU-P19. The 12 h fermented juice contained between 2.1 × 10⁹ and 3.7 × 10⁹ live cells of the probiotic per milliliter, depending on the beverage formulation. The beverage had a pH of around 4.1 and a lactic acid content of ~12.8 g L⁻¹. It had a total sugar (glucose, sucrose, fructose, maltose) content of ~100.2 g L⁻¹. During fermentation, some of the initial glucose and fructose were consumed by the probiotic, but sucrose and maltose were not consumed. The original WPJ was free of vitamin B12, but fermentation enhanced vitamin B12 content (~19.5 mg L⁻¹). In addition, fermentation enhanced the concentrations of vitamins B2, B3, and B6, but the bacterium consumed some of the vitamin B1 originally present. From a nutritional perspective, the final probioticated beverage was a good source of vitamin B12, vitamin C and vitamin B6. In addition, it contained nutritionally useful levels of vitamins B1, B2, and B3. The calorific value of the final beverage was 56.94 kcal per 100 mL. The product was stable during 21-day refrigerated (4^◦ C) storage.