Manufacturing a prebiotic whey beverage exploring the influence of degree of inulin polymerization. (April 2018) - Guimarães, Jonas T.
Abstract: In this work, we evaluated the influence of inulin degree of polymerization (DP) on the physical stability of a soursop flavored whey beverage aiming to obtain a novel prebiotic food product. We studied the effect of the inulin DP (DP ≥ 10 and DP ≥ 23) and their interactions with others stabilizers (gellan gum and gum acacia) to improve the whey beverage physical properties. The DP of inulin had an important effect on physical stability. The optical microscopy, particle size distributions, separation index, light backscatter scan analysis and the rheological behavior results were essential to prove the better efficiency of inulin with higher DP for the beverage stabilization. Furthermore, the use of gellan gum decreased the difference caused by inulin DP. The results observed were mainly attributed to the inulin capacity in forming gels, which seemed to be directly related to its dissolution and storage conditions. Graphical abstract: Image Highlights: Functional beverages were manufactured using prebiotic inulin. The influence of inulin DP on stability of a soursop dairy beverage was evaluated. Samples with inulin DP ≥ 23 presented better physical stability than DP ≥ 10. Inulin gelation capacity was attributed to its dissolution and storage conditions. The difference between different inulin DP increased after 72 h of cold storage.