Development of synbiotic ice cream incorporating Lactobacillus acidophilus and Saccharomyces boulardii

A study was carried out to prepare ice cream by incorporating Lactobacillus acidophilus and Saccharomyces boulardii as probiotics and fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) as a prebiotic and enriched with whey protein concentrate and analyzed for the viability of probiotics during storage of ice cream and the effect FOS on survival of probiotics in human gut. The protein content and melting quality of the ice cream samples showed a significant (P 0.01) difference. The FOS in the ice cream mix significantly (P 0.01) improved the growth of probiotic cultures. A significant reduction in the count of L. acidophilus and S. boulardii was observed during storage of ice cream. Consumption of synbiotic ice cream significantly increased faecal L. acidophilus and S. boulardii counts in human volunteers. The L. acidophilus and S. boulardii count were higher in the treatments when L. acidophilus and S. boulardii were incorporated in combination than alone. On withdrawal of the synbiotic ice cream feeding, faecal samples showed lower Lactobacillus count and S. boulardii disappeared in about 7 days. It is concluded that ice cream containing FOS is an excellent medium to deliver L. acidophilus and S. boulardii, for overall improvement and maintenance of microbiota in the human gastrointestinal tract.