Abstract
Dehydration is one of the oldest methods of food preservation and represents a crucial aspect of food processing. In this study, less studied probiotic Bacillus was formulated into a non-dairy food product, and the analysis was assessed by supplementing probiotic Bacillus licheniformis MTCC 2541 into carrot shreds, and it was dried at 60 °C. The moisture was brought to 8-10% and water activity was about 0.639 ± 0.001a(w) and 0.473 ± 0.005a(w) for probiotic-infused osmo-dried carrot shreds (PIODCS) and unblanched dried carrot shreds (UDCS), respectively. A total phenol decrease of 48.71 mg/GAE was observed in PIODCS compared to UDCS. Chlorogenic acid and the other five major polyphenols were detected in both dried samples. The α-carotene in PIODCS was detected at about 0.339 ± 0.0 mg/mg extract and UDCS was 0.565 ± 0.0 mg/mg extract. The viability of Bacillus was retained in all three storage conditions after 20 weeks about 7.23 ± 0.02, 6.81 ± 0.07, and 6.58 ± 0.03 log CFU on -20 ℃, 4 ℃, and R.T condition, respectively. Probiotic-infused carrot shreds have also shown considerable antimicrobial activity against food pathogens. The data obtained from this study suggest that B. licheniformis has excellent viable stability when supplemented with an osmo-dried carrot. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13197-025-06245-8.