Effect of drying technique and feed flow rate on bacterial survival and physicochemical properties of a non-dairy fermented probiotic juice powder

•Fermented orange juice containing probiotic microorganism was spray and spouted bed dried.•Maltodextrin and gum Arabic were used as drying agents.•Microorganism viability was substantially better in samples dried by spouted bed compared to spray drying.•Low feed flow rates were better for microbial viability during the storage.

Drying of probiotic fruit juice can be a good alternative for new probiotic foodstuff production since most probiotic foods are dairy-based products, which are not suitable for people with galactosemia, lactose intolerance or allergy to milk protein. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of spray and spouted bed drying and feed flow rate on the microorganism survival and physicochemical properties of probiotic orange juice powder. Fermented probiotic orange juice containing Lactobacillus casei NRRL B-442 was spray-dried at 140 °C and spouted bed dried at 60 °C, respectively. Three different feed flow rates were studied for each equipment. Maltodextrin and gum Arabic were used as drying agents at 15% (w/w). The low temperature used in the spouted bed drying resulted in better probiotic bacteria viability compared to the product obtained by spray drying. Moisture and glass transition temperature were improved at the lowest feed flow rate (0.2 L/h), and faster rehydration time was achieved using maltodextrin. Thus, the spouted bed drying at low feed flow rates using maltodextrin as drying agent were the best parameters to produce powder fermented probiotic orange juice with high viability levels after drying and with good physicochemical parameters.