The Effect of Rehydration Media on Growth and Starter Culture Properties of Spray-dried Pediococcus acidilactici

Abstract

Pediococcus acidilactici is a lactic acid bacteria that has been found on many fermented foods around the world, showing its capability as a starter culture. It is gaining research interest due to its probiotic potential that can provide additional health benefits, further increasing its value as starter culture. Starter cultures are typically commercialized in powder form, with one of the common techniques being spray drying. The bacteria within the powder produced, however, is usually rendered to a dormant state. Hence, rehydration is typically required to reactivate bacteria prior to its utilization. Although past studies have evaluated the effect of rehydration towards viable recovery, there is still no further evaluation on its effect towards the growth parameters and starter culture properties of spray-dried bacteria. Hence, this study aimed to identify the effect of rehydration and variation of rehydration media towards the growth and starter culture properties of spray dried starter culture (SDSC). The variation of rehydration media tested included 0.9% NaCl solution (w/v), type III water, and 20% sucrose solution (w/v). The growth and starter culture properties (acidification, coagulation, and proteolytic) were evaluated every 3 hours for 30 hours. Overall, the results showed that rehydration and variation of media used did not cause notable effects towards growth and starter culture activity. Rehydration step only affected the duration of adaptation period, but not the maximum growth or starter culture activity. These findings suggested that rehydration step prior to utilization could shorten the lag period and all three rehydration media can be used to rehydrate the SDSC powder. Hence, can be adjusted based on the best interest of the user