Development of synbiotic vegan beverages: probiotic viability, sensory profile, consumers' acceptance and functional stability

Summary The development of synbiotic vegan drinks expands the probiotic food options on the market as an alternative to dairy products and with no added sugars. This study aimed to investigate the impact of fermentation and inulin addition in mixed carrot‐orange juice with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (LP) on the sensory profile, consumer acceptance and functional stability. The results demonstrated that all fermented juices had high antioxidant capacity (AOC) and were a rich source of bioactive compounds such as β‐carotene and phenolics. However, only the β‐carotene showed a high correlation with the AOC. Inulin could improve LP survival, remaining at high concentration during the 21 days of storage. Only fermented juices with 2% inulin showed a positive correlation with sweet taste and had the best impact on sensorial properties. Fermentation with LP and inulin addition could contribute to the improvement of orange flavour and taste. Penalty analysis showed that the control‐unfermented juices were the samples with a clear need for improvement with respect to the fermented ones. Therefore, carrot‐orange juices represent a promising vegan food matrix for probiotic delivery.