Microencapsulation of Probiotics (Lactobacillus Casei and Bifidobacterium Longum) in Pineapple Jam by Spray Drying and its Comparitive Study

Probiotics are defined as live microorganisms, which when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host. Laoctobacillus casei and Bifidobacterium longum are one of probiotic bacteriums when introduced in sufficient colonies serve as new prophylactic and curing agent. They increase the innate immunity of humans. Non-dairy probiotic foods are becoming popular because they do not pose problems of lactose intolerance and high cholesterol content while they offer an alternative from traditional sources and for personal preferences. The storage of probiotic products requires to maintain viability as high as > 106 -108 CFU/unit. To tackle these aspects, the microencapsulation of probiotics by spray drying was studied in Pineapple Jam. Encapsulation was performed by spray drying with pectin as polymer. Comparison of nutritional aspects and shelf life of normal jam, multistrain probiotic jam and encapsulated multistrain probiotic jam was performed and it was found that both the parameters were enhanced in case of encapsulated multistarin probiotic jam. Keywords—Probiotics; Lactobacillus casei; Bifidobacterium longum; Pinaaple jam; Microencapsulation; Nutritional value. INTRODUCTION Aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, yeast and fungi thrive into the GI tract. All these organisms in a healthy intestinal tract dwell in a natural balance called symbiosis. There are more than 2000 species of harboring bacterial organisms within our bodies, the vast majority in the gut. In fact the mammalian gut is considered one of the most densely populated ecosystems on earth with a bacterial load in the region of 10 organisms/gram of fecal material in the large intestine. The numerous species of microorganisms in the adult human gut are known as the microbiota. The initial acquisition of intestinal microbiota plays a key role in the development of immune processes and protection against pathogens. The changing life style has also changed the eating behavior of the people. Now people prefer to consume the food that not only meet their nutritional requirement but also improve their health. This preference leads to the development of functional foods. Probiotics are one of the major constitutes of the functional foods. Probiotics may be defined as the live microorganism which when administered in a sufficient quantity help in improving the health of the host. The minimum concentration of probiotics recommended to attain the desirable health benefits is 10-10 CFU/g or mL of food at the time of consumption. Bacteria form Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium genera are most commonly used as probiotics in food products. [2] Jam is a very popular food product that can be used as a vehicle to deliver the healthy bacterial cultures to the consumers. It can be manufactured with various concentrations of different ingredients and then mixed with various ratios of probiotic cultures. There are a lot of factors that determine the viability of the probiotic microbes in food products. The factors are total solids, pH, acidity, time and temperature physical damage during mixing, storage time and temperature. [4] Encapsulation is a process in which tiny droplets or particles are wrapped with a protective coating yielding capsules for countless application. Encapsulation may be defined as a process of entrapping one substance (active agent) within another substance (wall material). The encapsulation technology has been used by the food industry for several years. Microencapsulation in which the cells are retained within an encapsulating matrix or membrane, has emerged as an alternative for protection of probiotics, providing a particular and convenient micro-environment for the encapsulated microorganism, enhancing their viability, and enabling controlled release of cells in the intestinal tract. Spray drying is considered a good long-term preservation method for probiotic cultures. The speed of drying and continuous production capability is very useful for drying large amounts of starter cultures. Spray drying is a unique process in which particles are formed at the same time as they are dried. [8] MATERIALS AND METHODS A . Cultivation Pure lyophilized cultures of Lactobacillus casei and Bifidobacterium longum were obtained from Unique Biotech, Hyderabad. Lactobacilli MRS (deMan Rogosa and Sharp) and Nutrient agar was used as the selective media for Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacterium spp. , respectively. B. Preparation of modified Jam formulation A commercial base for jam preparation was used as reference encapsulating material and for jam preparation. Base ingredients, in decreasing order, are: culture powder, Pectin & distilled water. [3] Vol. 5 Issue 03, March-2016 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT) ISSN: 2278-0181 http://www.ijert. org