engleski

Encapsulation of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum in alginate microspheres

Lactobacilli have been used as adjunct cultures in the manufacture of different cheeses to accelerate ripening and/or improve cheese quality. One of the most important tasks to be solved in the process of cheese making is adequate protection and timely delivery of the bacterial cultures. Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, this bacterial culture is often used in cheese acidification and has a positive effect on the organoleptic properties of cheese. This research aims to explore the possibility of simultaneous encapsulation of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and calcium ions by the ionic-gelation encapsulation method. The process of simultaneous encapsulation in the biopolymer microcapsules was performed under previously optimized conditions. The concentration of sodium alginate was set to 1.5% (w/v), the calcium chloride concentration was 4%, and the vital fraction of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum was 9.0 ± 0.1 log CFU/g. Microspheres were produced and physicochemically characterized (microsphere size, encapsulation efficiency, loading capacity). Simultaneous encapsulation in biopolymer microspheres did not have a negative effect on the Lactiplantibacillus plantarum properties. Also, the release date of the bacterial cultures was fitted to the Korsmeyer- Peppas model and the n exponent indicated that the release mechanism was Fickian. The electrostatic interactions between bacterial cultures, alginate, and calcium ions were confirmed by infrared spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and zeta potential measurements. The obtained results showed that bacterial cultures and calcium ions can be successfully simultaneously encapsulated and applied in the process of cheese production.

encapsulation, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, microspheres, calcium ions, cheese

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