Oral delivery of probiotics using single‐cell encapsulation

Abstract

Adequate intake of live probiotics is beneficial to human health and wellbeing because they can help treat or prevent a variety of health conditions. However, the viability of probiotics is reduced by the harsh environments they experience during passage through the human gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Consequently, the oral delivery of viable probiotics is a significant challenge. Probiotic encapsulation provides a potential solution to this problem. However, the production methods used to create conventional encapsulation technologies often damage probiotics. Moreover, the delivery systems produced often do not have the required physicochemical attributes or robustness for food applications. Single‐cell encapsulation is based on forming a protective coating around a single probiotic cell. These coatings may be biofilms or biopolymer layers designed to protect the probiotic from the harsh gastrointestinal environment, enhance their colonization, and introduce additional beneficial functions. This article reviews the factors affecting the oral delivery of probiotics, analyses the shortcomings of existing encapsulation technologies, and highlights the potential advantages of single‐cell encapsulation. It also reviews the various approaches available for single‐cell encapsulation of probiotics, including their implementation and the characteristics of the delivery systems they produce. In addition, the mechanisms by which single‐cell encapsulation can improve the oral bioavailability and health benefits of probiotics are described. Moreover, the benefits, limitations, and safety issues of probiotic single‐cell encapsulation technology for applications in food and beverages are analyzed. Finally, future directions and potential challenges to the widespread adoption of single‐cell encapsulation of probiotics are highlighted.

Encapsulation of Probiotics within Double/Multiple Layer Beads/Carriers: A Concise Review

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Coated Bacteria: Advanced Living Materials for Microbial Therapy

“…5 On the basis of these living contributions, living materials have been extensively applied in a wide range of fields, including medical engineering, drug delivery, agriculture, biofuels, and environment monitoring and remediation. 1,6,7 It is worth noting that due to fast reproduction, sophisticated genetic modifiability, strong adaptability, simple cultivation, and convenient transportation, microorganisms, especially bacteria that constitute ∼15% of the global biomass in earth, have significant advantages over plant cells and mammalian cells for living material fabrication. 8 Besides, bacteria own a serial of unique features, including the preference of targeting and colonizing specific in vivo sites, immunoactivation effect, and antipathogen ability, which provide such bacteria-based living materials with great potential for use as therapeutic agents for microbial therapy.…”

“…Recently, these living materials have been recognized as a kind of green biomaterials, as they match the green concept and principle . On the basis of these living contributions, living materials have been extensively applied in a wide range of fields, including medical engineering, drug delivery, agriculture, biofuels, and environment monitoring and remediation. ,, …”