Probiotics encapsulated by gelatin and hyaluronic acid via layer-by-layer assembly technology for enhanced viability

Abstract

The viability of probiotics is often affected by external adverse factors during food processing. In this study, hyaluronan (HA) and gelatin (GL) were used to protect probiotics by an encapsulator combined with layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly. The effect of probiotics survival during adverse conditions such as gastrointestinal digestion, heating and storage were studied. The encapsulation efficiency of microcapsules was high (78%–92%) during the preparation process. FT-IR and XRD analysis showed that the multilayer microcapsules were assembled LBL through hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions. When microcapsules were subjected to monolayer embedding during gastrointestinal digestion, the dissolution of the wall material exposed the cells to harsh conditions more quickly. However, with the increase of the coating, this adverse effect on the vitality of the probiotics became less. In addition, multilayer microcapsules greatly improved the antioxidant properties and cell extract viability of probiotics under adverse conditions. Therefore, the findings provide valuable information for the development of functional probiotic foods.