Exploratory Study for Probiotic Enrichment of a Sea Fennel (Crithmum maritimum L.) Preserve in Brine

Considering the increasing consumer demand for vegan and vegetarian health foods, different vegetables have been already exploited to produce non-dairy probiotic foods. In addition to being rich in bioactive compounds, sea fennel (Crithmum maritimum L.), also known as rock samphire, represents a valuable candidate in the production of probiotic-enriched foods, and, to the authors' knowledge, it has not yet been explored as carrier for probiotics. Hence, the present study was aimed at evaluating the survival of a commercially available probiotic formulation, SYNBIO (R), and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum IMC 509 in an artificially acidified, pasteurized sea fennel preserve in brine during a refrigerated storage of 44 days. Despite slight reductions in the microbial loads, at the end of the storage, both the probiotic formulations showed loads higher than 7.0 Log CFU g(-1 )of sea fennel or mL(-1) of brine, above the recommended administration dose to exert beneficial health effects. Thus, acidified sea fennel sprouts in brine represent a potential vehicle for probiotics delivery to humans.

Automated summary

Considering the increasing demand for vegan and vegetarian health foods, sea fennel has been explored as a potential carrier for probiotics. During refrigerated storage, probiotic-enriched sea fennel sprouts in brine maintained high microbial loads, exceeding the recommended administration dose for beneficial health effects.