Impact of inulin on viability and storage stability of probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum TISTR 2075 in fermented rice extract

The influence was determined of various concentrations of inulin as a prebiotic on the growth of probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum TISTR 2075 fermented in Plai Ngahm Prachin Buri rice extract. The supplementation of 2% inulin provided the highest viable cell number of 8.90 log colony forming units/mL after fermentation at 37 °C for 24 h. The storage stability of the probiotic strain could be considered in terms of the specific rate of cell death (k value). The supplementation of 2% inulin exhibited the lowest k value of 2.48 × 10−2/d (30.16% survival) and 8.03 × 10−2/d (7.84% survival) after storage at 4 °C for 52 d and 30 °C for 31 d, respectively. The total reducing sugar and free amino nitrogen profiles of all treatments decreased over the storage period.