Microencapsulation of probiotic bacteria

The functional food market is booming worldwide, as consumers increasingly turn to foods that combine taste and health benefits. To meet this strong demand, bioactive ingredients have been added to food and nutraceutical products.

In particular, probiotic bacteria have received considerable interest, and their incorporation into foods is growing. The challenge with these functional foods is to preserve the functionality of the bacteria present and ensure that they reach the site of their activity in sufficient quantity. Microencapsulation is a technique increasingly used to ensure the intestinal release of micro-organisms, preventing their deterioration, enhancing their viability and, ultimately, reducing their interaction with the components of the food into which the probiotics are incorporated. Many encapsulation techniques have been developed in the past, but only a few are applicable to the encapsulation of probiotic bacteria. Similarly, many encapsulation matrices have been used to protect bioactive compounds, but only a limited number are compatible with the survival of probiotic bacteria. The strategic choice of encapsulation method and matrix must enable the desired characteristics of the microparticles produced to be achieved. In this article, the description of encapsulation processes and compatible matrices is presented with the aim of designing optimal systems for the vectorization of probiotic bacteria.