Fortification of Cereal-Based Food with GG and GBI-30 and Their Survival During Processing.

Functional foods are evolving beyond basic nutrition to address nutrition-related diseases and enhance well-being. While probiotic-fortified products dominate this sector, most remain dairy-based. This study investigated the incorporation of GG and GBI-30 into cereal-based pasta and noodles, evaluating bacterial survival during processing and cooking. Extrusion-based pasta production exerted greater stress on GG, whereas GBI-30 demonstrated higher thermal resistance. In sheeted noodles, both strains maintained ≥8 log CFU/g viability pre-cooking. After 7 min boiling, GG retained 6.88 log CFU/g and GBI-30 5.75 log CFU/g in noodles, meeting the recommended 10-10 CFU/g threshold for probiotic efficacy. Cooking performance analysis revealed lower cooking loss in noodles (2.4-4.04%) versus extruded pasta (10.6-19.05%), indicating superior structural integrity. These results confirm cereal matrices as viable non-dairy carriers for probiotics, with sheeting processes better preserving bacterial viability than extrusion. The findings highlight a practical strategy for developing functional foods that sustain probiotic viability through processing and consumption, potentially enhancing gut microbiota balance. This approach expands probiotic delivery options beyond traditional dairy formats while maintaining therapeutic bacterial concentrations critical for health benefits.