Techno-economic analysis for probiotics preparation production using optimized corn flour medium and spray-drying protective blends

Current production of probiotic preparations must meet several criteria to be competitive on the market, like inexpensive growth medium based on sustainable resources, reduction of the number of unit operations, and exploitation of cost-effective preservation method. Implementation of the new solutions should not negatively affect the quality of the product, such as the number of living cells or the product safety. In the present study, we used a highly concentrated, raw corn flour-based (CF) medium for cultivation of probiotic L. plantarum LOCK 0860 strain and as a matrix in the following spray-drying process. Prior to drying, the post-culturing liquid was supplemented with a newly developed, optimized blend of protective agents, shown to increase the cell's viability over 4-fold. Experimentally obtained data were used for the process model simulation at industrial scale, where the optimized probiotic component was supplemented with inulin as the prebiotic and standardization agent. Techno-economic analysis of this process model indicated a high net present value (NPV) at a selling price of $5.00 per kg of the preparation, which represent highly promising economic benefits. Sensitivity of unit production cost and the number of batches per year was estimated in the simulation, and the critical factors were identified, as well. (C) 2020 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.