Probiotic Coffee and Tea Offer Healthy Alternative to Traditional Probiotics

New probiotic coffee and tea drinks that are packed with taste and gut-friendly live probiotics are created by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS). The drink can be stored chilled or at room temperature for more than 14 weeks without compromising on their probiotic viability.

Rising trends in veganism along with intolerance to lactose, dairy protein allergies and high cholesterol have switched the source of preference to non-dairy probiotic food and beverages.

‘New probiotic coffee and tea drinks are packed with taste and gut-friendly live probiotics. They provide healthy alternative to people who have dairy intolerance to traditional probiotics like yoghurts and help fulfil the daily requirement of the probiotics.’

"Coffee and tea are two of the most popular drinks around the world, and are both plant-based infusions. As such, they act as a perfect vehicle for carrying and delivering probiotics to consumers. Most commercially available probiotic coffee and tea drinks are unfermented. Our team has created a new range of these beverages using the fermentation process as it produces healthy compounds that improve nutrient digestibility while retaining the health benefits associated with coffee and tea," says Liu Shao Quan, Associate Professor, Department of Food Science and Technology at the NUS Faculty of Science, who supervised the study.

The probiotic coffee and tea

For the people who require the essence of coffee, the caffeine content and the chlorogenic acid content, which have been linked to a lot of the health benefits of coffee, is retained.

"The formulation is tricky, especially relating to the type and amount of nutrients added, and the probiotic combination. Not every type of probiotic can grow in coffee brews. Adding too few nutrients will not enable probiotic growth while adding too many nutrients will give an unpleasant taste," says Ms Chan, doctoral student from the Department of Food Science and Technology at the NUS Faculty of Science.

Each serving of probiotic tea and coffee would contain at least 1 billion units of live probiotics - the daily amount recommended by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics.

Facts on Probiotics

Probiotics are healthy live microorganisms that help prevent and treat some illnesses
Among the existing benefits, promoting a healthy digestive tract and a healthy immune system top the list
These are also commonly known as friendly or good bacteria. Probiotics can be supplied through fermented foods, beverages, and dietary supplements

Source: Medindia