Effect of the addition of the probiotic Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. Lactis (BB-12) in free and microencapsulated form and the prebiotic inulin to synbiotic dry coppa

The effect of the addition of the prebiotic inulin and free and microencapsulated Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. Lactis (BB-12) strains to synbiotic dry coppa formulations was evaluated during 45 days of ripening. The following formulations were made: control C without probiotic and prebiotic; PROB with free probiotic; SYNB with free probiotic and inulin; ENPROB with microencapsulated probiotic, and ENSYNB with microencapsulated probiotic and inulin. The incorporation of BB-12 with inulin provided adequate physicochemical characteristics (proximate composition, weight loss, pH, water activity (aw), and instrumental color). The treatments PRO and SYNB showed lower lipid and protein oxidation levels. The treatments PROB, SYNB, ENPROB, and ENSYNB had viable cell counts above 109 CFU/g and can be considered probiotic. In the in vitro gastrointestinal simulation, the BB-12 strain showed survival and growth capacity in saline solution and at low pH values for all treatments. The sample SYNB was the most accepted by the assessors in the sensory evaluation. Therefore, dry coppa can be used as a vehicle for the development of a synbiotic fermented meat product.