Document Type : Articles
Authors
Department of Food Science, College of Agriculture, University of Basrah, Iraq
Abstract
Microencapsulation processes are used to preserve the viability of probiotic bacteria. This study prepared the encapsulating mixture using whey proteins and gum Arabic to capsulate Limosilactobacillus reuteri bacteria. The vacuum oven was used for the encapsulation process and followed the proportions recommended by the Design of Experiments program. Moisture content, powder yield, changes in bacterial viable cell numbers, and the efficiency of the encapsulated bacteria were estimated. Subsequently, the best conditions for producing encapsulated bacteria were determined and the encapsulating material surrounding the bacteria was examined using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The results of the Design of Experiments showed that the optimal volume of Limosilactobacillus reuteri was 3 mL containing 11.74 log CFU/mL, mixed with a mixture of an encapsulating solution consisting of 10 g of whey protein and 3.75 g of gum Arabic. The optimal conditions for the encapsulation process were found to be a temperature of 50°C and a pressure of 0.6 bar for 180 minutes. The logarithmic of the bacterial enumeration was recorded at 9.12 CFU/g, whereas the encapsulation effectiveness was 77.68%, accompanied by a moisture content of 4.26%. The powder yield exhibited a mass percentage of 83.58%. The morphological analysis conducted through SEM illustrated the envelope enveloping Lim. reuteri bacteria. The diameter of the shell encasing the bacteria attained a measurement of 68.29 nm. The storage period did not significantly influence bacterial counts or encapsulation efficiency at 4°C and 25°C for 6 months.
Keywords
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