Production of sucrose-free and probiotic chocolate pudding using xylitol in combination with Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG and Saccharomyces boulardii

Obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay are directly related to high sugar intake. Therefore, it is important to reduce sugar consumption by replacing it with foods that provide less energy. At this juncture, xylitol provides fewer calories than sucrose and helps preventmtooth decay. Additionally, probiotics have many positive effects on host health. This study aimed to produce a tooth-friendly probiotic pudding by incorporating xylitol (25, 50, 75 and 100%) and the probiotics L. rhamnosus and S. boulardii. The effects of adding xylitol and probiotics on pH levels, syneresis, rheological properties, probiotic viability, and consumer acceptance were evaluated. The addition of xylitol resulted in a slight increase in pH, whereas the inoculation of probiotic cultures led to a notable reduction in pH values (P ≤ 0.05). The addition of xylitol reduced the syneresis levels of the puddings. The addition of xylitol resulted in an increase in the consistency values, whereas the incorporation of probiotics resulted in a reduction. Although a decline in the viability was observed for both L. rhamnosus and S. boulardii during storage, the viability of probiotics remained above the desired level (8.91 and 6 log CFU/g for both probiotics, respectively). The sensory acceptability of probiotic-free puddings was satisfactory, whereas probiotic puddings were not deemed acceptable by the panelists. Finally, this study demonstrated that xylitol could be an alternative sweetener to sucrose in the production of tooth-friendly pudding and that the pudding could be used as an alternative probiotic carrier.