Dynamic changes in physicochemical, antioxidant, and aromatic profiles during fermentation of pea extract (Pisum sativum L.) by lactic acid bacteria

Abstract The higher demand for functional foods, combined with the growing adoption of vegan diets, requires the food industry to develop alternative foods that are not animal-based, utilizing plant-based matrices. Peas, like most legumes, are sources of protein, carbohydrates, and other nutrients. However, this matrix is still poorly explored for the development of fermented non-dairy-like products. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of pea extracts as a base matrix for the development of fermented and potentially probiotic plant-based products by evaluating their physicochemical and technological properties. Five strains of potentially probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were evaluated. Fermentation results showed that all strains were able to ferment the pea aqueous extracts, with Lactococcus lactis 32B4-1 (9.51 log CFU/mL) and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum BL011 (9.19 log CFU/mL) presenting the highest growth rates in 12 h. The lactic acid production was observed along with cell growth, reaching a maximum concentration of 4.2 g/L by L. lactis 32B4-1. After fermentation, the antioxidant activity increased by 30.71 to 78.27% and the extracts changed from bright green colour to olive. The changes in volatile compounds were strain dependent. L. lactis 32B4-1 and L. plantarum BL011 showed beneficial changes, altering volatile metabolites, including aldehydes, known to impart an undesirable flavour to legumes. L. lactis 32B4-1 and L. plantarum BL011 showed potential for industrial applications for the preparation of fermented pea extracts and could be further explored to ferment other plant matrices.