Study of Bifidobacterium Lactic 300b Survival during Encapsulation, Coating and Freeze Drying Process and the Release in Alkaline Media

Abstract

The survival of probiotics is of paramount importance because to have their beneficial effects on the host’s health, they must stay alive up to the site of their action. It is known that the resistance of probiotic cells in acidic media, as in the stomach, is very low, that’s why the encapsulation of Bifidobacterium lactis 300B in alginate matrices is needed. This study present the mechanism of cell survival during encapsulation, coating and freeze drying process and release in simulated intestinal media. Microspheres with mean diameter 1100 µm and 66.87% encapsulation rate were obtained and described. In order to increase the protection of Bifidobacterium lactis 300B in the alginate/pullulan based microspheres, three types of dip coating were proposed. Namely, the alginate microspheres were coated in alginate, chitosan or gelatin, using the dip coating method by crosslinking. The survival of the cells was tested after encapsulation, coating application and compared with free and encapsulated cells, using the plate counting method. Also, the survivability in freeze dried microspheres was tested. Although the coated microspheres showed higher survivability compared with free and encapsulated cells, the release in alkaline pH was no possible for the gelatin coated alginate/pullulan based microspheres.Â