Phytochemical Composition and Nutritional Properties of Non-Diary Probiotic Beverages

Abstract

Functional foods serve nutrients and physiologically active components for a healthy living. Though dairy is the ideal food matrix for probiotics but because it might cause allergy in certain segments of the population, the trend of non-dairy probiotics is growing among consumers. The aim of this research was to provide a non-dairy probiotic drink to attend people that cannot eat dairy products due to lactose intolerance and determine its phytochemical and proximate composition. Proximate analysis (moisture, crude fiber, crude ash, protein, carbohydrate and fat and oil) and Photochemical analyses on Steroids, Cardiac glycosides, phenols, tannins, terpenoids, alkaloids, flavonoids, Saponins and reducing sugars were determined in triplicates according to standard methods. The statistical analysis was conducted using the SPSS software version 18.0 (Chicago, IL, USA). Proximate composition of probiotic juice showed increase in level of moisture content, reduction in level of fat and absence of crude fiber. The probiotic beverages showed positive for cardiac glycosides, Alkaloids, Flavonoids and reducing sugars but showed negative for steroids, phenol, tannins, terpenoids, glycosides and saponins. These juice samples were found to be nutritionally and phytochemically rich.