Stability of Lactobacillus reuteri in Different Types of Microcapsules

Abstract

: This study was designed to find the most suitable method and wall material for microencapsulation of the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus reuteri to maintain cell viability during gastric challenge. Five L. reuteri strains were individually encapsulated using alginate, alginate plus starch, K‐carrageenan with locust bean gum, or xanthan with gellan by extrusion or phase separation (emulsion). The morphology of the microcapsules was studied using phase contrast and cryo‐scanning electron microscopy (cryo‐SEM). The resistance of these microcapsules and the viability of contained L. reuteri to simulated gastric juice were studied. The shape and size of the microcapsules produced varied with the preparation method and type of wall material. Extruded microcapsules were larger and more uniformly shaped. Survival of microencapsulated L. reuteri was significantly better than that of planktonic cells and varied with the strain, method of microencapsulation, and wall material used. In general, microencapsulation using alginate and alginate with starch by both extrusion and phase separation were found to provide bacteria significantly greater protection (P < 0.05) against simulated gastric juice.

Role of Calcium Alginate and Mannitol in Protecting Bifidobacterium

“…The bacteria did not appear on the microcapsule surface, indicating that they were trapped within the matrices. The microstructure of our alginate microcapsules was similar to that of Muthukumarasamy et al (39) and Chen et al (7). Gbassi et al (19) found that probiotic bacteria were randomly distributed in the alginate matrices.…”

Activity of encapsulated Lactobacillus bulgaricus in alginate-whey protein microspheres

“…Large microspheres can adversely affect the texture of food after supplementation by causing coarseness; small microspheres may not give sufficient protection. Alginate-based microspheres often with between 1.0 to 3.0 mm are obtained, which are too large for many food applications (Sheu and Marshall 1993;Muthukumarasamy et al 2006;Dong et al 2013;Shi et al 2013 a, b). In the present study, alginatewhey protein microspheres were below 1.0 mm.…”

Measurement of particle diameter of Lactobacillus acidophilus microcapsule by spray drying and analysis on its microstructure

“…While the stability of bacterial encapsulated using homogenization and lyophilization process is high, the technology is only suitable for lab scale or pilot-scale experiments because batch sizes are small, and the microcapsule size is relatively large (Muthukumarasamy et al 2006). Spray drying is an alternative encapsulated method that can be conducted in a large scale and has a low cost (Moreau 1991).…”