## 3 Results and Discussion
### Morphological Analysis of Encapsulated and Free Lacticaseibacillus rhamns GG  
Strain morphology was carried out by microscopy to confirm the characteristics described in the literature for _Lacticaseibacillus rhamns_ GG [7,33]. Its Gram-positive nature and one of the main characteristics of _Lacticaseibacillus rhamns_ GG was confirmed: the link of bacilli in a branched form without mobility with sizes (per bacillus cell) in the range of 1 to 2 um in length (Figure 1). The results obtained from the digital camera of the capsules loaded with _Lacticaseibacillus rhamns_ GG with the ImageJ software are presented in Table 2.  
The two homogenization techniques used in this study formed capsules with a continuous and homogeneous geometry represented with values close to one in the circularity parameter, which indicates that they geometrically resemble a circle. The UT treatment formed visibly and numerically smaller capsules compared with those made by AM. The morphology and microstructure of the capsules after subjecting the alginate system to different homogenization processes (AM and UT) are displayed in Figure 2. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**Method** & **log CFU/mL (N\({}_{0}\))** & **log CFU/mL (N)** & **Viability (\%)** \\ \hline AM & 10.55 \(\pm\) 0.02  & 8.08 \(\pm\) 0.07  & 76.59 \\ UT & 10.55 \(\pm\) 0.03  & 9.05 \(\pm\) 0.13  & 85.80 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Viability of capsules loaded with _Lacticaseibacillus rhamns_ GG produced by different treatments (AM and UT). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**Method** & **Maximum Feret** & **Minimum Feret** & **Circularity** \\  & **Diameter (mm)** & **Diameter (mm)** & **Diameter (mm)** \\ \hline AM & 2.68 \(\pm\) 0.12  & 2.33 \(\pm\) 0.13  & 0.94 \(\pm\) 0.03  \\ UT & 2.67 \(\pm\) 0.05  & 2.55 \(\pm\) 0.06  & 1 \(\pm\) 0.00  \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Morphological characteristics of capsules produced by AM and UT. The capsules obtained by AM showed a smooth surface compared with the rough surfaces of the capsules obtained by UT. This differentiation in the structure of the surface can be attributed to the moisture content of the samples at the moment of their visualization, even after carrying out a drying process in a laminar flow hood at room temperature. The AM capsules retained a more significant moisture content, preventing the visualization of their microstructure in detail, although with larger magnifications microspheres can be observed on its surface. It is also the case with the UT capsules. The morphology observed in the present study follows the behavior described by [PERSON] et al. [34]. The capsules obtained by external gelling tend to form a layer that increases the interface strength and prevents them from shrinking or peeling. On the other hand, the appearance of microspheres, such as roughness on the surface of the capsule, is a factor that is reflected in studies using rotor-stator type equipment in the formulation of capsules [34; 35; 36]. [PERSON] and [PERSON] [37] and [PERSON] et al. [30] obtained capsules with sizes of 2.3 mm and 1.01 mm, respectively, in systems made with alginate for encapsulation of _Bifidobacterium longum_ and _Lactobacillus acidophilus_. Although not in their microstructure, these results are similar to those obtained in this study regarding capsule size. In the study by [PERSON] and [PERSON] [37], a very rough surface can be seen that contrasts with the more homogeneous and smoother surface of the capsules in our study, a factor attributed to the composition of the matrix we used, suggesting that the emulsification process and its components affected the classical morphology of alginate capsules. [PERSON] et al. [21] obtained micrographs of capsules made by extrusion and co-extrusion with morphologies and sizes like those obtained in our study.