Effect of Protective Compounds on the Survival, Electrolyte Leakage, and Lipid Degradation of Freeze-Dried Weissella paramesenteroides LC11 During Storage

The effect of cryoprotectants (maltodextrin+glycerol) and cryoprotectants+antioxidant [ascorbic acid and/or butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)] mixtures on the survival, electrolyte leakage, and lipid degradation of freeze-dried Weissella paramesenteroides LC11 during storage was investigated and compared with that of the control (cells without additives) over a 90-day storage period at 4 or $20^{\circ}C$ in glass tubes with water activity ($a_w$) of 0.23. The survival, electrolyte leakage, and lipid degradation were evaluated through colony counts, electrical conductivity, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) content, respectively. The fatty acids composition was determined by gas chromatography, in both the total lipid extract and the polar lipid fraction, and compared with that of the control after the 90-day storage period. As the storage proceeded, increases in leakage value and TBARS content, as well as a decrease in viability, were observed. After 90 days of storage, the major fatty acids found in both the total lipid extract and the polar lipid fraction were palmitic (16:0), palmitoleic (16:1), stearic (18:0), oleic (18:1), linoleic (18:2), and linolenic (18:3) acids. The survival, leakage value, TBARS content and 18:2/16:0 or 18:3/16:0 ratio were the greatest for the protected strain held at $4^{\circ}C$. Cells with the cryoprotectants+BHT mixture showed the highest percentage of survival and 18:2/16:0 or 18:3/16:0 ratio in both lipid extracts, as well as the lowest leakage value and TBARS content after the 90-day storage period. Drying cells with the cryoprotectants+BHT mixture considerably slowed down polar lipid degradation and loss of membrane integrity, resulting in improved viability during storage.