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Updated: Jul 19, 2025
Author Spotlight: Process Development for the Spray-Drying of Probiotic Bacteria and Evaluation of the Product Quality
Published on: April 7, 2023
Improved Viability of Probiotics via Microencapsulation in
Qingqing Liu1,2, Chutian Lin1,2, Xue Yang1,2
1Chongqing Key Laboratory of Speciality Food Co-Built by Sichuan and Chongqing, School of Food and Bioengineering, Xihua University, Chengdu 610039, China.
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to microencapsulate probiotic bacteria (Lactobacillus acidophilus 11073) using whey-protein-isolate (WPI)-octenyl-succinic-anhydride-starch (OSA-starch)-complex coacervates and to investigate the effects on probiotic bacterial viability during spray drying, simulated gastrointestinal digestion, thermal treatment and long-term storage. The optimum mixing ratio and pH for the preparation of WPI-OSA-starch-complex coacervates were determined to be 2:1 and 4.0, respectively. The combination of WPI and OSA starch under these conditions produced microcapsules with smoother surfaces and more compact structures than WPI-OSA starch alone, due to the electrostatic attraction between WPI and OSA starch. As a result, WPI-OSA-starch microcapsules showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher viability (95.94 ± 1.64%) after spray drying and significantly (p < 0.05) better protection during simulated gastrointestinal digestion, heating (65 °C/30 min and 75 °C/10 min) and storage (4/25 °C for 12 weeks) than WPI-OSA-starch microcapsules. These results demonstrated that WPI-OSA-starch-complex coacervates have excellent potential as a novel wall material for probiotic microencapsulation.
