612 Part VI: Fermented Foods
THE FUTURE—CULTURED DAIRY
PRODUCTS WITH THERAPEUTIC
BENEFITS
The availability of dairy products with positive
nutritional benefits, in addition to yogurt and aci-
dophilus milk, is expected to increase in the future.
The growth of the functional foods area has led to a
growing consumer interest in cultured dairy prod-
ucts with enhanced nutritional benefits from the
incorporation of bifidobacteria and other probiotic
bacteria (Robinson 1991, Tamime 2002). Probiotic
bacteria, specifically bifidobacteria and lactobacilli,
are normal inhabitants of the human colon and ben-
eficially affect human health by improving the bal-
ance of intestinal microflora and improving mucosal
defenses against pathogens. Additional health bene-
fits include enhanced immune response, reduction
of serum cholesterol, vitamin synthesis, anticarcino-
genic activity, and antibacterial activity (Arunacha-
lam 1999, Lourens-Hattingh and Viljoen 2001). A
daily intake of at least 10^8 to 10^9 viable cells, which
could be achieved with a daily consumption of at
least 100 g of a product containing between 10^6 and
107 viable cells per gram, has been suggested as the
minimum intake to provide a therapeutic effect
(Gomes and Malcata 1999).
The most popular food delivery systems for pro-
biotic cultures have been freshly fermented or unfer-
mented dairy foods, including milk, yogurt, cheeses,
ice cream, and desserts. Successful incorporation of
these probiotic bacteria into cultured dairy products
must recognize the challenges related to the instabil-
ity of some intestinal strains of probiotic bacteria in
cultured milk products (Lourens-Hattingh and Vil-
joen 2001). The environment typical of many yogurt
and other cultured dairy products, including the low
pH and the aerobic conditions of production and
packaging, can result in decreases in the count of
bifidobacteria in these dairy products to below the
therapeutic minimum (Lourens-Hattingh and Vil-
joen 2001). In some cases, modifications of the tra-
ditional processing protocol are necessary to enhance
the viability of the probiotic bacteria. In addition to
maintaining the viability of the probiotic bacteria in
the cultured dairy products through the time of con-
sumption, it is imperative that the incorporation of
the probiotic bacteria does not adversely affect the
flavour, texture, and other quality attributes of the
cultured dairy products. The development of cul-
tured dairy products with improved therapeutic ben-
efits will provide numerous challenges and rewards
to food scientists.ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This chapter of the Iowa Agriculture and Home
Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa, Project
No. 3574, was supported by Hatch Act and State of
Iowa funds.REFERENCES
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