Encapsulation of Lactobacillus reuteri in the internal aqueous phase of W1/O/W2 emulsions was investigated. Microstructure of the emulsions was evaluated using a particle size analyzer and light microscopy. The encapsulation properties were evaluated in terms of encapsulation efficiency (EE) for freshly prepared samples and encapsulation stability (ES) during storage and in vitro digestion and the results were compared to control. Particle size analysis showed that encapsulation of the bacteria increased the droplet sizes of W1/O emulsions significantly (P 0.05) from 3.5 +/- 0.2 to 4.8 +/- 0.4 mu m which was verified by microscopy. Neither encapsulation nor storage changed (P 0.05) the droplet sizes for double emulsions (14.9 +/- 0.3 mu m) compared to control (15.5 +/- 0.4 mu m) which remained stable through storage period. The EE was 7.23 +/- 0.07 Log CFU/mL. During cold storage, the ES decreased with a higher pace for control (from 6.18 +/- 0.03 to <1 Log CFU/mL) compared to formulations with encapsulated bacteria (from 7.23 +/- 0.07 to 2.82 +/- 0.10 Log CFU/mL). Finally, during in vitro digestion, the ES decreased with a higher rate for control (from 6.25 +/- 0.36 to 2.69 +/- 0.06 Log CFU/mL) compared to encapsulated samples (from 6.69 +/- 0.07 to 4.64 +/- 0.06 Log CFU/mL). The results showed that encapsulation of Lactobacillus reuteri using double emulsions can protect the probiotics during storage and in vitro gastro-intestinal digestion.
Encapsulation of probioticsPolyglycerol polyricinoleatePoloxamer 407Emulsion microstructureViability of bacteria
NSTL
Elsevier
