MICROENCAPSULATION OF LACTOBACILLUS ACIDOPHILUS IN CALCI-ALGINATE-CHITOSAN AND EVALUATION OF SURVIVAL IN SIMULATED GASTROINTESTINAL CONDITIONS

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to prepare probiotic microcapsules with Lactobacillus as main ingredient, by using calci, alginate, chitosan, starch and coated with chitosan to evaluate their survival’s ability in Simulated Gastrointestinal Conditions. L. acidophilus ATCC 4653 encapsulated in alginate microcapsules was prepared by dropping the mixture of 3% sodium alginate, 10% starch and cell biomass into the mixture of solution include 2% calcium chloride and 0.5% chitosan in acid acetic 0.5% and freeze-dried microcapsules. The microcapsules were incubated in simulated gastric juice (along with pepsin 1%, pH=3) for 2 hours, and simulated intestinal juice (along with pancreatin 3% , pH = 7) for 2 hours at 37^oC. The morphology and size of microcapsules before and after the freeze-dried process were measured by scanning electron and optical microscopy. The results indicated that the microcapsules after freeze-drying satisfy requirements of WHO/FAO with probiotic preparations [5] and the survival of microencapsulated probiotic increased significantly in simulated gastro-intestinal condition (P < 0.05). In general, this study indicated that microencapsulation with calci-alginate coated with chitosan could successfully and significantly protect L. acidophilus ATCC 4653  strain against adverse condition of simulated human gastro-intestinal condition.