Technological study of an oat-based fermented product

Continuous development of new functional foods is the response of science and industry to the increased consumer awareness regarding health and the role of foods for improving quality of life. Oats and probiotics have long been recognized for their health benefits. In the present study was carried the technological study of fermented product based on oat bran. In an attempt to develop a fermented, non-dairy product based on oats, oat bran suspension was fermented with a mixture of starter culture containing Str. thermophilus, L. bulgaricus and L. acidophilus. The oat base was heat treated for 10 min at 95 °C prior to inoculation. Several factors, such as fermentation time, starter culture concentration, oat bran and sucrose content, affecting the fermentation process, were established. It was found that the 10% starter culture, 5% oat bran and 5% sucrose content to the oat mash are more appropriate for obtaining a probiotic product. The appropriate fermentation time was 8 h. The viable cell counts reached at the end of process were about 6 ×10⁹ cfu ml^-1.