Delivery of probiotic bacteria in long life ambient stable foods using a powdered food ingredient

Purpose – The authors aim to report a novel encapsulation technology for probiotic bacteria, through which L. casei CRL431 cells have been successfully delivered in shelf stable dry and intermediate moisture foods. Design/methodology/approach – Manufacturing of the probiotic ingredient involved a proprietary technique using combination of controlled fermentation of the L. casei CRL431 cells, encapsulation in a food grade matrix and drying under controlled parameters. Findings – The developed ingredient was stored at 25°C for a period of 12 months. The loss in cell viability was 1.9 log cfu g-1 after 12 months and maintained at 8.3 log cfu g-1. In vitro gastric juice and bile salts incubation revealed that the probiotic cells were better protected within the encapsulated than in the free form. The survival of the encapsulated cells was 5.0 and 2.1 log cycles higher than free cells in gastric juice and bile salt solution respectively. Fortification of probiotic bacteria did not have any negative impact on t...