Carboxymethyl cellulose and hydrogel beads produced from sugar cane bagasse (SCB) and palm kernel cake (PKC) were characterised, and the ability of the hydrogel beads to encapsulate and protect the probiotic bacteria of Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA-5) under simulated gastrointestinal conditions was investigated. Encapsulation with SCB and PKC hydrogel beads was performed with 87.4% and 80.9% efficiency, respectively, compared with that with alginate hydrogel beads, which had 75.0% efficiency. LA-5 free cells and those encapsulated in alginate hydrogel beads showed no survival. LA-5 cells encapsulated in SCB and PKC hydrogel beads retained high survival under stomach conditions of pH 2 after 1.5 h (>6 log CFU/ml) and 3 h (>4 log CFU/ml). However, no survival of cells was observed under colon conditions of pH 7.5 after 24 h. SCB and PKC hydrogel beads were able to protect the cells against the pH conditions of the stomach but not of the colon.

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