Banana pseudo stem core, a novel substrate: Turning waste into alcoholic and probiotic beverages

In the present investigation, nutritious and sugar- rich Banana pseudo stem core (BPS) served as a novel substrate for developing fermented beverages involving reference microorganisms, Saccharomyces ellipsoideus (RY4) and Lactobacillus acidophilus (RLAB4) along with other indigenous isolates of yeasts and lactic acid bacteria. The results indicated that the performance of the reference organisms was significantly better, as compared to BPS isolates. It was observed that beverage using RY4 produced highest alcohol content of 7.03% after 6 days. Further, a desirable microbial population for probiotic beverages was attained in RLAB4 (4.5 x 10⁶ cfu ml⁻¹ beverage). Additionally, treatment with RLAB4 also exhibited highest vitamin C (0.38 mg 100 ml⁻¹). Sensory evaluation disclosed that the beverages developed using the reference strains had better acceptability than their indigenous counterparts. The study also paves way for efficient utilization of voluminous biomass for the production of both alcoholic and non- alcoholic probiotic drinks, helping in valorization of the agro-residue.