Andrea Luigi Budelli

According to the main principles of the circular economy, recovering bioactive compounds from food waste has significant potential to deliver financial, environmental, and health benefits by incorporating them into food products as additives, emulsifiers, antioxidants, and antimicrobial agents to enhance nutritional and functional value and/or extend product shelf life. This work investigated the potential of a food waste material, such as chickpea aquafaba from industrial processing, as a fermentation substrate using promising lactic acid bacteria, including L. plantarum AME-01, L. paracasei CBA L74, and L. mesenteroides, under non-controlled pH conditions, and evaluated the antioxidant/chelating capacity of the postbiotic obtained from the process. Fermented substrates were thermally inactivated to produce postbiotic preparations, which were characterized in terms of inactivated biomass and lactic acid concentration. Subsequently, liquid postbiotics were spray-dried using a lab-scale spray dryer, and the resulting powders were characterized in terms of antioxidant and chelating properties. While the postbiotic preparations using L. paracasei CBA L74 showed significantly lower activity (23.78 ± 7.25%) compared to non-fermented aquafaba (56.85 ± 2.79%), those using L. plantarum AME-01 (84.60 ± 5.57%) and L. mesenteroides (82.56 ± 1.11%) exhibited increased chelating activity. The antioxidant power of all fermented powders was significantly improved, confirming the potential of postbiotic ingredients as stabilizing additives in food formulations.

Postbiotics, a type of fermented functional food, are attracting attention alongside the more common pro- and prebiotics. The main production stages—fermentation, thermal inactivation, and drying—significantly influence the functional effects of these foods. This study investigated the impact of pH control during the fermentation of oat flour suspension and optimized spray-drying parameters to produce oat-based postbiotic powders. A Lacticaseibacillus paracasei CBA L74 fermented hydrolyzed oat suspension was analyzed at 37 °C for 24 h, with and without pH control. Both pH conditions produced similar bacterial growth (~10⁹ CFU/mL) and lactic acid (~9 g/L). No significant differences were observed in polyphenols, flavonoids, or antioxidant activity, indicating that pH control did not noticeably improve productivity or the phytochemical properties. The best results—57.40% drying yield and 3.9% relative humidity—were achieved when the postbiotic suspension (diluted 1:4 with water) was mixed 1:1 with maltodextrins, and the spray drying process was conducted with 50 L/min air flow, 200 °C, 3.2 bar atomization pressure, and 5 L/min feed flow. These results support the possibility of scaling the production process from laboratory-optimized parameters and represent a first step toward a cost-effective and industrially feasible route for manufacturing stable oat-based postbiotic powders.

In any scientific field, demonstrating cause-and-effect relationships is of the utmost importance, however difficult to achieve

In recent years, scientific research and industries have been focusing on the application of biological treatments aimed at imparting functional properties to waste products from food industries according to the principles on which the circular economy model is based, namely, the recovery, valorisation, and reuse of wastes. This work aimed at exploring the possibility of valorising waters from the blanching process of dried navy beans through lactic acid fermentation using Lacticaseibacillus paracasei CBA L74 as a starter. Two samples at different solid concentrations (0.75 °Bx and 1.25 °Bx) were fermented, and, in both cases, a bacterial load of 8 Logs and a lactic acid concentration of approximately 1.3 g/L were reached, despite the lack of nutrients. An unusual pH trend, characterised by an initial decrease and unexpected final rise, was observed during the fermentation of both samples: simultaneously, an increase in protein content was observed, suggesting that the proteolytic action of the microorganism could be responsible for the release of pH-increasing substances. In both cases, a slight increase in total polyphenols (approximately 23.3–33.72%) and flavonoids (approximately 42.3–52%) due to fermentation was observed, with a corresponding improvement in antioxidant capacity (approximately 25.32–37.72%). A significant increase in saponin concentration was determined for the most concentrated blanching water (from 2.87 ± 0.28 to 6.68 ± 0.69 mgOAE/mL), leading to an improvement in foaming properties and an enhanced capacity to produce stable emulsions. The obtained results confirmed the possibility of reducing water consumption from blanching operations, as well as finding valorisation opportunities for this side stream through a safe and inexpensive fermentation treatment.

The concept of postbiotic has been attracting the attention of the scientific community and several industrial realities to develop new claims and new market segments for functional fermented products. The aim of this work was to develop a process to produce an oat-based postbiotic ingredient to be used in personal care cosmetic formulations. A hydrolyzed oatmeal suspension was fermented using Lacticaseibacillus paracasei CBA L74 as starter culture, at 37 °C for 48 h by controlling the pH; then the bacterial charge was inactivated by a mild thermal treatment at 80 °C for 30 s, obtaining a postbiotic. The effect of different process steps, hydrolysis, sterilization, fermentation, and inactivation phases, on lactic acid concentration, total polyphenolic content, antioxidant activity, tyrosinase inhibition activity and Sun Protection Factor value was investigated, demonstrating the potential cosmetic applications. The maximum bacterial growth and lactic acid production were achieved after 24 h of process, with a cell density and a lactic acid concentration of 3.05 × 10⁹ CFU/mL and 8.60 g/L, respectively. The total phenolic content and the antioxidant activity reached their maximum values (2.5 mgGAE/mL, EC₅₀ = 2.2 mg/mL and 1.38 × 10⁻² mmol Fe²⁺/g and 7.3 × 10⁻³ mmol TE/g, respectively) after the sterilization treatment; the maximum tyrosinase inhibition of 50.6%, corresponding to a sample concentration of 16 mg/mL, was found after 24 h of fermentation process. Fermentation did not show an impact on UV shielding ability and the SPF value decreased during the process.

Intake of a postbiotic product can support immunity depending on specific conditions of the consumer. The present study evaluates the potential impact of baseline values on the change of various immune factors (α-defensin, β-defensin, cathelicidin, and secretory IgA) after three months of consumption of a postbiotic based on cow’s milk fermented with Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 in a young population. For the analysis, raw data of three studies were used in a multivariate analysis applying confounding factors. One study in newborns demonstrated that intake of the postbiotic yielded an increase in the concentrations of α-defensin and secretory IgA (at least p < 0.02), while for all factors, except β-defensin, the higher the baseline values the lower the increase (at least p < 0.002). Two combined studies in young children (aged 1–4 years) showed an increase in the concentration of all factors after intake of the postbiotic (at least p < 0.003), but now showing the higher the baseline values the higher the increase after three months (at least p < 0.02) in only the postbiotic group. It is concluded that consumption of the postbiotic leads to a baseline- and age-dependent increase in the concentrations of the immune factors under study in both newborns and young children. It is hypothesized that maturation of the immune system leads to different effects on optimizing host defense factors via this postbiotic intake.

Synbiotic products are a type of functional food with great potential due to consumer interest in foods that improve health and/or reduce the risk of certain diseases. In this study, synbiotic macrocapsules were developed using Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 as probiotic and lactobionic acid (LBA) as prebiotic. Firstly, the probiotic was proven to be able to use LBA as the only substrate source checking their growth and lactic acid production. Then, four different types of capsules were produced using sodium alginate as matrix and different hardener solutions (CaCl₂ and chitosan). The macrocapsules were characterised regarding their strength, and the best performing ones were used for further analysis. In order to obtain a synbiotic capsule characterized by a longer stability time due to low water activity, the capsules were dried using freeze and thermal drying. Successively, to revitalize the microorganisms, the capsules were rehydrated in two different media (saline solution and yogurt), subjected to simulated in vitro digestion tests and visually characterised. In addition, their viability over time was assessed. As a result, L. paracasei was able to grow using LBA as the only source of carbon with better production of lactic acid for prolonged periods. The more resistant freeze- and thermal-dried capsules showed differences in rehydration kinetics, and visual changes were also observed. In simulated in vitro digestion tests, capsules rehydrated in yogurt showed the best results in terms of survival. Regarding their viability over time, the importance of the use of chitosan was noted.

Banana puree, due to its nutritional composition, is a good substrate for fermentation in the development of probiotic products. The production of banana puree mainly consists of three phases, i.e., raw material pretreatment, heat treatment, and the addition of anti-browning agents. In this study, we conducted three experimental protocols to evaluate the effect of ripeness grade, heat treatment, and ascorbic acid addition on fermentation performance. At the end of each protocol, the substrate was subjected to the fermentation process (37 °C, 48 h), and then measurements of pH reduction, microbial growth, and lactic acid production were used as markers in the analysis of fermentation performance. Ripe bananas produced better results than unripe bananas whose fermentation appeared to be inhibited. Therefore, ripe bananas were used to test the effect of two different heat treatments (sterilization (121 °C, 20 min) versus tyndallization (70 °C, 30 min; 37 °C, 30 min; 70 °C, 30 min)) on banana puree fermentation, and no significant differences were observed. Finally, 500 or 1000 ppm of ascorbic acid, normally used as an anti-browning agent, was added to ripe tyndallized bananas. No differences in fermentation results were observed between the two tested conditions, though values obtained for growth and lactic acid production were significantly lower than those from fermentation of banana puree without ascorbic acid.

The mathematical modeling of fermentation processes allows for the formulation of predictions about the kinetics of biomass growth and metabolite production as well as setting or verifying the best operative conditions in view of the economical convenience of the process. For this purpose, we performed a kinetic study of a rice flour fermentation process using Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 with and without pH control; the pH value was set to 5.8 under pH control. Monod, Logistic, and Contois models were proposed to describe the bacterial growth rate in both conditions. The best mathematical model, which was able to describe the experimental data obtained without pH control, was the Contois model, as the specific growth rate was influenced by both the glucose reduction (from 14.31 g/L to 10.22 g/L) and the biomass production (2 log growth) that occurred during fermentation. Conversely, when pH control was implemented, both Monod and Contois models satisfactorily described the specific growth rate trend. The estimated kinetic parameters confirmed that biomass production (2 log growth) and glucose consumption (from 14.31 g/L to 6.06 g/L) did not affect the microorganism’s growth capacity when the fermenting medium was maintained at an optimal pH. The lactic acid production rate described by the Luedeking–Piret model did not appear to be linked to growth in the absence of pH control while, on the other hand, this model was unsuitable for describing the experimental lactic acid concentration when pH control was applied. The kinetic modeling of lactic acid production and the percentage of added glucose in the protocol with controlled pH will be optimized in the future.