Effect of Storage in the Fortified Probiotic Corn Flakes Prepared by L. plantarum and L. reuteri

Background and Objectives: Nowadays corn flakes are the most common form of breakfast cereals however, their vitamins are declined during the baking process. In this research, production of fortified corn flakes by Lactobacillus plantarum and L. reuteri, as well as incorporation of oat and malt fiber as prebiotics have been studied. Materials and Methods: Plackett-Burman statistical design was used to evaluate the impact of eleven-process variables on the viability of both probiotics. Results: The highest survival rate of L. plantarum (340 ×106 CFU.g-1) was obtained by 2.5% w/w inoculation of a 24 h inoculum in a medium containing 10% w/v oat extract to enrich corn flakes (10% w/w malt fiber), packed in aluminum foil and kept at 20 °C in anaerobic conditions for 2 weeks. Also the highest survival rate of L. reuteri (123 ×106 CFU.g-1) was achieved when the 48 h cultured bacteria grown in a medium containing 5% w/v malt extract and MRS broth was inoculated (2.5% w/w) to the flakes enriched by 20% w/w malt fiber, and kept in anaerobic conditions inside the polypropylene cover packaging at 20 °C for 2 weeks. Conclusions: Sensory evaluation showed no significant difference between the treatments in terms of taste, odor and overall acceptability as compared to the control. Keywords: Corn flakes, Probiotic, Prebiotic, Plackett-Burman design