INFLUENCE OF RHODIOLA AND ELEUTHEROCOCCUS PLANT EXTRACTS ON THE FERMENTATION OF LEGUME-CEREAL SUSPENSION

EVECWO

Abstract

The addition of functional ingredients, including plant extracts, influences the fermentation process in various ways. This study investigated the effect of dry extracts from Rhodiola and Eleutherococcus roots on the fermentation process of a plant-based suspension mixture composed of soy, wheat, pumpkin seeds, and peas, using Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, Bifidobacterium bifidum, and Streptococcus thermophilus cultures. The optimal addition level of Rhodiola and Eleutherococcus root extracts to the plant suspension was determined to be 0.5% (w/w). The results demonstrated that, in most cases, the addition of dry extracts extended the fermentation process of the plant-based suspension mixture by 2 to 4 hours compared to the control sample without extracts. The total fermentation time for the plant-based mixture with extracts ranged from 8 to 22 hours. Among the tested cultures, L. bulgaricus showed the lowest adaptability to the plant-based medium, requiring at least 18 hours for fermentation to reach the desired endpoint. Rhodiola and Eleutherococcus root extracts were found to have a stimulating effect on microbial growth and survival, but the severity of this effect depends on the microbial culture used. The highest total viable cell count - 9.82 log (CFU/mL), representing a 14% increase - was observed in the S. thermophilus-fermented sample supplemented with Eleutherococcus. Notably, the most pronounced microbial proliferation was observed in samples fermented with L. bulgaricus and B. bifidum in the presence of Rhodiola, yielding increases of 42% (up to 8.07 log (CFU/mL)) and 28% (up to 8.87 log (CFU/mL)), respectively. Furthermore, the inclusion of plant extracts significantly enhanced the antioxidant activity of the fermented plant suspension, approximately doubling the activity to 87.89% with Rhodiola extract and 84.38% with Eleutherococcus extract. Thus, Rhodiola and Eleutherococcus root extracts can be utilized to enhance the content of lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria in fermented plant-based suspensions, as well as to increase antioxidant activity and enrich the suspension with biologically active compounds.In recent years, plant-based functional products, including fermented formulations, have gained.