Development of Non-Dairy Synbiotic Fruit Beverage Using Adansonia digatata (baobab) Fruit Pulp as Prebiotic

Probiotics improve gut health; however, their intake through diet is mainly in the form of dairy products, which represents a challenge to lactose-intolerant individuals and vegetarians. This study aimed to determine the prebiotic potential of baobab and to evaluate the potential of using fermented baobab-based beverages as functional foods. The prebiotic content of baobab fruit pulp was determined. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from raw milk samples, identified through phenotypic and molecular methods, and evaluated for their probiotic potential. Three potential non-dairy synbiotic functional beverages using baobab fruit pulp fermented with potential probiotic Limosilactobacillus fermentum and mixed with milk, water, and apple juice separately were produced. The growth and survival of probiotic L. fermentum in the beverages at room (25 degrees C) and refrigeration (4 degrees C) temperatures for 3 weeks were determined. Baobab fruit pulp contained phytochemicals, vitamins, fatty acids, inulin, and fructooligosaccharides. Sequence alignment of the LAB isolates identified homologous sequences of Lacticaseibacillus casei, Limosilactobacillus fermentum, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, Lentilactobacillus buchneri, and Lactiplantibacillus pentosus with 97.2-98.5% similarity. All the lactic acid bacteria did not produce DNAse and gelatinase enzymes, exhibited antagonistic activity against test pathogenic organisms, and demonstrated tolerance to bile salt, simulated gastric juice, and acid. The viability of L. fermentum increased from an initial inoculum size of 10(6)-10(8) CFU/mL in the baobab-based beverages and remained constant at 10(8) CFU/mL both at room and refrigeration temperatures. However, after three weeks, the viability of L. fermentum in the synbiotic beverages reduced to 10(7) CFU/mL. Refrigerated synbiotic beverages had more viable L. fermentum cells (8.04-8log(10) CFU/mL) than those stored at room temperatures (7.95-7.7log(10) CFU/mL) after three weeks of storage. This study has shown that baobab fruit pulp has prebiotic potential and can be used in the production of a non-dairy functional beverage.