Efecto de la microencapsulación sobre la viabilidad de lactobacillus delbrueckii sometido a jugos gástricos simulados

Abstract

In this paper the effect of a microencapsulant binary system composed by sodium alginate (SA) and high acyl gellan (HAG) in the protection of Lactobacillus delbrueckii under simulated gastric conditions was evaluated. Microencapsulation is a technique that involves wrapping an active ingredient in order to protect them against deleterious environmental conditions. The results indicated that it is possible to maintain the viability of Lactobacillus delbrueckii at 50% after 4 h exposure to simulated gastric juices when AS and HAG are used as wall system. The free microorganisms completely lose their viability at 180 minute exposure. Therefore, microencapsulation can be a useful technique in the production of functional foods maintaining therapeutic levels of probiotic bacteria.