Probiotics-encapsulated soy beverage spheres: Functional and technological characteristics

Authors: ALEXANDRE, JOANA - State University Of Ceará; SILVA, LUANA - State University Of Ceará; CASTELO, RACHEL - State University Of Ceará; FREIRE, GABRIELLE - State University Of Ceará; BARROSO, TIAGO - State University Of Campinas; MIRANDA, KELVI - Universidade Federal Do Ceara (UFC); BRUNO, LAURA - Embrapa Tropical Agroindustry; Cheng, Huai; Biswas, Atanu; FURTADO, ROSELAYNE - Embrapa Tropical Agroindustry

Submitted to: Food Science and Technology (Campinas)
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/22/2024
Publication Date: 3/3/2025
Citation: Alexandre, J.B., Silva, L.C., Castelo, R.M., Freire, G.A., Barroso, T.L., Miranda, K.W., Bruno, L.M., Cheng, H.N., Biswas, A., Furtado, R.F. 2025. Probiotics-encapsulated soy beverage spheres: Functional and technological characteristics. Food Science and Technology (Campinas). https://doi.org/10.5327/fst.00387.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5327/fst.00387

Interpretive Summary: Soy-based drinks are rapidly expanding across the world because they are an excellent source of high-quality proteins, contain healthy phytochemicals, and can serve as a lactose-free substitute for milk. Their appeal to consumers can be further enhanced by adding extra functionalities. One promising recent trend in beverages is “bubble tea”, where chewy tapioca spheres (called “bubbles”) are added to iced tea. In this work, a new type of sphere-containing soy beverage has been designed, where a probiotic culture has been encapsulated via a blend of calcium alginate and xanthan gum, which then serves as the spheres in the soy beverage. From earlier nutrition studies, probiotics are known to boost the immune systems in the body, inhibit the growth of pathogens, and even reduce cancer risks. Thus, this soy beverage with probiotic spheres may provide useful health benefits in addition to being a fun food drink. The findings reported in this work may be helpful in the future formulation of other health-promoting beverages containing probiotic spheres.

Technical Abstract: An increasingly popular drink is bubble tea, which consists of tea accompanied by chewy tapioca spheres. These spheres can be made from different polysaccharides and can have useful functional characteristics. In this work, we focused on the soy beverage, which is a healthy protein-rich drink and a lactose-free dairy substitute. Moreover, probiotic Bifidobacterium animalis BB-12 was encapsulated in the spheres in soy-based beverages, and the viability of the microorganisms was evaluated under different conditions. These spheres were prepared by dissolving sodium alginate and xanthan gum in a grape-flavored soy beverage and cross-linked with calcium lactate by external ionic gelation. The condition for alginate (1.125% m v-1) and xanthan gum (0.50% m v-1) was selected for the optimal formation of the probiotic spheres by external ionic gelation. The encapsulated probiotics showed resistance at different pH values (2 to 5). The storage conditions of the spheres in soy beverage resulted in a microbial viability of 8 log CFU g-1 for 30 days. The findings reported in this work will be useful in the design and formulation of soy beverages containing probiotic spheres.