Encapsulation of Lactobacillus Bulgaricus in Carbohydrate-Protein-Coconut Oil Mixtures Provides Protection during Spray Drying Survival, in Simulated Gastrointestinal Conditions and Storage

Encapsulation allows live probiotic bacteria to be protected from its environment, thereby maximizing the probiotic bacteria viability during processing and during storage at 25 °C. More importantly the encapsulated product should survive passage through the upper digestive tract in the large numbers, and have beneficial effects in the intestine host. Ideally, probiotics bacteria should be metabolically stable during processing, storage stability, survive passage through the upper digestive tract in the large numbers for colonization and proliferation in the large intestine, and have beneficial effects when in the intestine host. This study would help to understand the effect of feed composition towards viability of L. bulgaricus by using carbohydrate – protein - coconut oil mixtures. The understanding of the formulation is useful in designing a better formulation of the spray dried encapsulation L. bulgaricus as intermediate product for nutraceutical industry. The optimization step was carried out in order to determine the optimal feed composition of spray dried encapsulated Lactobacillus bulgaricus. Statistical analysis was carried out by using standard mixture design called simplex lattice, using three factorial variables; the quantity (%) of gum Arabic, gelatine and coconut oil as a mixture of carbohydrate – protein - coconut oil as the protective barrier. The optimal feed composition that results in the viability beyond the therapeutic minimum dose was consisted of 30 % gum Arabic, 16.95 % gelatine and 53.05 % coconut oil after spray drying with the viability of the cells are  within the accepted level which is more than 10⁸ cfu/g.  Furthermore, the mixture provide a good protection under the simulated gastrointestinal environment with the percent of viability more than 21.75 % with a viable cell was reduced only by 2 log cycles after 6 weeks storage  at 25 °C. The mixture of gum Arabic - gelatine - coconut oil shows more protecting to protect against damaging of oxidative stress during storage.