Effect of potentially probiotic lactic acid bacteria on the physicochemical composition and acceptance of fermented cereal beverages

• LAB in fermented cereal beverages reached optimum levels for probiotics.
• Fermented cereal beverages presented different organoleptic characteristics.
• Beverages formulated with the L. plantarum strain were the most accepted.
• Beverages with higher acetaldehyde values had better acceptance.
• Malt-L. plantarum beverage had a higher acetaldehyde value and better acceptance.

The physicochemical characteristics and acceptance of Lactobacilli-fermented cereal beverages individually inoculated with human derived Lactobacillus acidophilus NCIMB 8821, Lactobacillus plantarum NCIMB 8826, and Lactobacillus reuteri NCIMB 11951 were evaluated after 10 h of incubation at 37 °C. Values of cell viability, pH, titratable acidity (TA), soluble solids content (SSC), free amino nitrogen content (FAN) and colour were correlated with the acceptance using the Person correlation and a principal component analysis (PCA) was used to assess the relationship and trends of these data. Additionally, volatile and non-volatile compounds determinations were performed. The cell viability was around 108 cfu/mL with pH values ranging from 3.3 to 3.7. The beverage formulated with L. plantarum and malt substrate exhibited greater acceptance and it encompassed the highest concentration of acetaldehyde. The Pearson correlation and PCA depicted that the pH of the beverages was related to their acceptance.