Electro-hydrodynamic processing for encapsulation of probiotics: A review on recent trends, technological development, challenges and future prospect

Abstract In recent decades, there has been a lot of interest in the development of probiotic incorporated functional foods. It is because probiotic bacteria give various health advantages when ingested in sufficient quantities. However, the stability and viability of probiotics in various food products that can be employed as carriers are restricted by inherent food properties such as pH, acidity, packing, and storage needs of certain food types. Furthermore, the acidic environment of the gastrointestinal tract has an effect on probiotic bacteria survival. As a result, microencapsulation and other enrichment techniques have been used as probiotic carrier or targeted delivery systems. Microencapsulation techniques such as freeze-drying, emulsion, extrusion, and others have been shown to be promising for increasing the viability and bioactivity of probiotics; however, the use of high temperatures or organic solvents limits their usage and also affects cell survival. In this review, we have discussed innovative microencapsulation techniques for probiotics, such as electro-spraying and electro-spinning, as well as their recent trends, technological developments, and future prospects. The findings of the studies are quite fascinating, and they suggest in a new approach for the development of functional foods incorporating probiotics with enhanced viability and stability.