Abstract
Relevance. It is worth noting that consumers’ awareness of the environmental burden that milk production carries continues to grow. Consumers are looking for alternatives that are more environmentally friendly and have high nutritional value. The demand for plant-based products is increasing for various reasons, namely, 65% of the world’s population has a reduced ability to digest lactose and 6% of the population is allergic to milk protein. According to statistics, 49% of women and 36.6% of men experience symptoms of functional gastrointestinal disorders. Soybeans are one of the most widely grown and consumed legumes worldwide. Thus, the development of new plant-based fermented products is a particularly actual issue.Methods. The objects of study were soybean dispersion and microorganisms Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and Propionibacterium. The quality indicators of the resulting soy dispersion were determined. The process of acid accumulation during fermentation with probiotic microorganisms were studied. Data on the accumulation of bacterial biomass during the fermentation process were obtained and the effect of the use of selected starter microorganisms on the change in the antioxidant status of fermented dispersions during storage were investigated.Results. Research results showed that soybean dispersion is a good substrate to produce fermented beverages using Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and Propionibacterium microorganisms. The most rapid process occurs when L. bulgaricus and P. schermanii KM-186 are used and the fermentation lasted for 6 hours. All selected strains adapt well to the plant-based media, but the greatest increase in biomass occurs during fermentation with L. bulgaricus, B. longum B379M and B. bifidum. Lactic acid and propionic acid bacteria provide high and stable levels of antioxidant activity on both the 1st and 6th and 12th days of storage.