| Summary: | Lactobionic acid (LBA), a prebiotic with beneficial health properties, can be mixed with a probiotic, Lactobacillus plantarum CECT 9567, to prepare novel synbiotic coatings. Coatings deposited on cottage cheese contained either probiotic (PRO, L. plantarum CECT 9567), prebiotic (PRE2 and PRE4; 20 and 40 g L−1 of LBA, respectively) or synbiotic compositions (SYN2 and SYN4). Coated cottage cheeses were analysed to determine probiotic and LBA concentration changes during storage, their textural properties and investigate the survival of bacteria during simulated digestion. Before the digestion test, PRO, SYN2 and SYN4 met minimal requirements to attain probiotic category and PRE2, PRE4, SYN2 and SYN4 contained adequate quantities of LBA throughout the experiment. Textural properties of cheese samples varied, with changes in the stickiness parameter. The digestion test showed that only SYN2 and SYN4 maintained acceptable probiotic values after simulated digestion, due to the presence of LBA, which increased probiotic survival.
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