Effect of different types of encapsulation on the survival of Lactobacillus plantarum during storage with inulin and in vitro digestion

- Extrusion encapsulation was the best for long storage periods.
- Internal emulsion presented a low resistance to gastrointestinal digestion.
- The 2% of inulin improve the viability of Lactobacillus plantarum in longer storage periods.
- Both encapsulation methods maintain a sufficient concentration of L. plantarum.

The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of different microencapsulation methods (extrusion and internal emulsion microencapsulation) and inulin on the viability of Lactobacillus plantarum during storage at 4 °C. The inulin was added during microencapsulation at 0, 1 and 2%. The effect of the different phases of the gastrointestinal digestion on the survival of the microorganism during storage (0, 15 and 30 days) was also investigated. In both types of microcapsules, the best protection with higher survival of Lactobacillus plantarum during the 30 days of storage, was observed in the presence of 2% inulin with only 0.71 and 0.47 logs reduction for extrusion and emulsion microencapsulation respectively. From 15 days of storage the internal emulsion microcapsules did not maintain their structure during the in vitro digestion processes. At the end of the simulated gastrointestinal conditions (30 days), the number of cells were 7.40 and 6.53 log CFU g−1 for extrusion and emulsion microencapsulation respectively. In both microencapsulation methods, Lactobacillus plantarum showed a high survival (≥106 CFU g−1). However for long storage periods, the best method for increasing the survival of Lactobacillus plantarum to the gastrointestinal digestion was the extrusion microencapsulation.