The effect of innovative processing technologies on probiotics stability

The use of a traditional processing (thermal treatment) method for the inactivation of target microorganism causes some undesirable changes in food product. This awareness has created the trend for the development of advance processing technologies for the preservation of food. These advance processing technologies (high-pressure processing, high-power ultrasound and pulsed electric field) inactivate the target microorganism without affecting the food constituents. The numerous health benefits of probiotics enliven the manufacturer for the inclusion of probiotics for the development of different dairy and nondairy functional foods. However, the retention of the recommended probiotic level in carrier food is still an important challenge for the manufacturer. The probiotic viability and stability are affected by various factors (intrinsic and extrinsic) during the entire food production process. The storage period is another crucial factor that play a key role in reduction of probiotics stability. There are various approaches that are being used to improve the viability and stability of probiotics in functional foods. The purpose of this chapter is to provide the reader about the use of different innovative technologies for the development of functional foods, the impact of these technologies on the viability and stability of probiotics in carrier food, as well as the recent knowledge on the subject