Toxicological Safety Assessment of Provitamin A Cassava Hydrolysate with Free and Encapsulated Lacticaseibacillus Rhamnosus GG in the Wistar Rat Model

Expanding the non-dairy food and beverage matrices useful as carriers for probiotics such as Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG is an ongoing concern. This has led to the development of provitamin A cassava (PAC) hydrolysate. However, the safety of novel food matrices such as PAC hydrolysate, a non-dairy probiotic beverage, needs to be assessed. The acute and 30-day sub-chronic toxicological effects of the oral administration (using oral gavage) of PAC hydrolysate without or with free or encapsulated L. rhamnosus GG, were evaluated in the Wistar rat model.No treatment-related acute toxicity, and no changes of toxicological significance (p > 0.05) in the relative organ weights, haematological or biochemical parameters were observed in all the PAC-administered Wistar rats, compared to the control. Therefore, oral administration of provitamin A cassava hydrolysate without or with free or encapsulated L. rhamnosus GG showed evidence of safety when consumed at the doses recommended in this study and not more than 30 days.