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Development of a novel probiotic delivery system based on microencapsulation with protectants

  • Biotechnological products and process engineering
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Abstract

The establishment of the health-promoting benefits of probiotics is challenged by the antimicrobial bio-barriers throughout the host’s gastrointestinal (GI) tract after oral administration. Although microencapsulation has been frequently utilised to enhance the delivery of probiotics, microcapsules of sub-100 μm were found to be ineffective and therefore questioned as an effective delivery vehicle for viable probiotics despite the sensory advantage. In this study, four probiotics strains were encapsulated in chitosan-coated alginate microcapsules of sub-100 μm. Only a minor protective effect was observed from this original type of microcapsule. In order to enhance the survival of these probiotics, sucrose, a metabolisable sugar, and lecithin vesicles were added to the wall material. Both of the ingredients could be readily encapsulated with the probiotics, and protected them from stresses in the simulated GI fluids. The metabolisable sugar effectively increased the survival of the probiotics in gastric acid, mainly through energizing the membrane-bound F1F0-ATPases. The lecithin vesicles proved to alleviate the bile salt stress, and hence notably reduced the viability loss at the elevated bile salt concentrations. Overall, three out of the total four probiotics in the reinforced sub-100 μm microencapsules could significantly survive through an 8-h sequential treatment of the simulated GI fluids, giving less than 1-log drop in viable count. The most vulnerable strain of bifidobacteria also yielded a viability increase of 3-logs from this protection. In conclusion, the sub-100 μm microcapsules can be a useful vehicle for the delivery of probiotics, as long as suitable protectants are incorporated in the wall matrix.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Technology for Industry Fellowship (TIF) New Zealand grant DPAC0702 and by the Drapac Trust, New Zealand. We also thank Dr. Sabrina Tian, the team of Seafood Unit—Plant and Food Research, the team of AnQual Lab—the University of Auckland, Ms. Vivien Zhang and Ms. Yu Cao for their kind help and emotional support throughout the project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmacy, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Song Chen & Sanjay Garg

  2. School of Engineering & Advanced Technology, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand

    Qian Zhao

  3. Department of Nutrition, School of Medical Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Lynnette R. Ferguson

  4. Bioactives Research New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand

    Quan Shu & Iona Weir

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  1. Song Chen
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  2. Qian Zhao
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  3. Lynnette R. Ferguson
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  4. Quan Shu
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  5. Iona Weir
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  6. Sanjay Garg
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Correspondence to Sanjay Garg.

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Chen, S., Zhao, Q., Ferguson, L.R. et al. Development of a novel probiotic delivery system based on microencapsulation with protectants. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 93, 1447–1457 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-011-3609-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-011-3609-4

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