Mentha piperita L. essential oil inactivates spoilage yeasts in fruit juices through the perturbation of different physiological functions in yeast cells.

This study evaluated the efficacy of the essential oil from Mentha piperita L. (MPEO) to inactivate cells of the potentially spoilage yeasts Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Pichia anomala and Saccharomyces cerevisiae in cashew, guava, mango and pineapple juices during 72 h of refrigerated storage. Damage in different physiological functions caused by MPEO in S. cerevisiae in cashew and guava juices were investigated using flow cytometry (FC). The effects of the incorporation of an effective anti-yeast MPEO dose on sensory characteristics of juices were also evaluated. MPEO displayed minimum inhibitory concentration of 1.875 µL/mL against all tested yeasts. A >5 log reduction in counts of C. albicans, P. anomala and S. cerevisiae was observed in cashew and guava juices with 7.5 and 3.75 µL/mL MPEO. Tested MPEO concentrations (1.875, 3.75 and 7.5 µL/mL) were not effective to cause >5 log reduction in counts of target yeasts in mango and pineapple juices during 72 h of exposure. Incorporation of 1.875 µL/mL MPEO in cashew and guava juices strongly compromised membrane permeability, membrane potential, enzymatic activity and efflux pump activity in S. cerevisiae cells. This same MPEO concentration did not affect appearance, odor and viscosity in fruit juices, but negatively affected their taste and aftertaste. These results show the efficacy of MPEO to inactivate potentially spoilage yeasts in fruit juices through disturbance of different physiological functions in yeast cells. However, the combined use of MPEO with other technologies should be necessary to decrease its effective anti-yeast dose in fruit juices and, consequently, the possible negative impacts on specific sensory properties of these products.

Protective Effects of Tropical Fruit Processing Coproducts on Probiotic Lactobacillus Strains during Freeze-Drying and Storage.

This study evaluated the protective effects of coproducts from agroindustrial processing of the tropical fruits acerola (Malpighia glabra L., ACE), cashew (Anacardium occidentale L., CAS), and guava (Psidium guayaba L., GUA) on the probiotics Lactobacillus paracasei L-10, Lactobacillus casei L-26, and Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-05 during freeze-drying and storage. The occurrence of damage to membrane integrity, membrane potential, and efflux activity of Lactobacillus cells after freeze-drying was evaluated by flow cytometry, and viable counts were measured immediately after freeze-drying and during 90 days of storage under refrigerated or room temperature conditions. Probiotic strains freeze-dried without substrate had the overall highest count reductions (0.5 ± 0.1 to 2.9 ± 0.3 log cycles) after freeze-drying. Probiotics freeze-dried with fruit processing coproducts had small cell subpopulations with damaged efflux activity and membrane potential. Average counts of probiotics freeze-dried with ACE, CAS, or GUA after 90 days of storage under refrigerated or room temperature were in the range of 4.2 ± 0.1 to 5.3 ± 0.2 and 2.6 ± 0.3 to 4.9 ± 0.2 log CFU/g, respectively, which were higher than those observed for strains freeze-dried without substrate. The greatest protective effects on freeze-dried probiotics were overall presented by ACE. These results revealed that ACE, CAS, and GUA can exert protective effects and increase the stability of probiotic lactobacilli during freeze-drying and storage, in addition to supporting a possible added-value destination for these agroindustrial coproducts as vehicles for probiotics and for the development of novel functional foods.