Okra extract as a promising biopolymeric shield for robust Bifidobacterium animalis encapsulation and enhanced...

The viability of probiotics is challenged by processing and digestion. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of okra pod extract as a novel encapsulation matrix to enhance the survival of Bifidobacterium animalis (BA) during extrusion, drying, and gastrointestinal transit. The phytochemically characterized okra extract (OK) was used to fabricate BA-encapsulated bead formulations under pre-optimized conditions, with sodium alginate (SA) as the bead former. The resulting beads were assessed for size, shape, viscosity, encapsulation efficiency (%EE), and BA survival during drying and in simulated gastric and intestinal juices. The results demonstrated that the prepared okra extract contained non-reducing sugars (82.32% of total sugar content) and phenolics as the primary components, offering the merits of superior %EE (95.21 to 104.17%) and near-perfect encapsulation, with enhanced cell recovery during enumeration at optimal concentrations. Compared with the controls (SA-BD, %EE = 76.82), the okra-sodium alginate beads demonstrated superior BA survival in simulated gastric and intestinal conditions (88 to 92% survival within 90 min), with significantly improved survival in intestinal juice. In contrast, the SA-BD control showed complete loss of viability under intestinal conditions. This study demonstrates the potential of okra extract as an effective encapsulation matrix that can boost BA viability, improve the protective capacity of the SA-based bead system during extrusion and drying stress, and increase BA's tolerability to intestinal and gastric stressors. These findings underscore okra extract's considerable potential for functional food development. However, additional investigation on the stability and in vivo efficacy of the BA-encapsulated okra-sodium alginate bead is recommended.