High survivability of microencapsulated canine-specific probiotics during artificial gastrointestinal conditions and pasteurization

Abstract

Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that can positively impact the health and well-being of host organisms. When selecting probiotics for canines it is crucial to choose species that are native to the canine intestinal tract as these species demonstrate host specificity. In this study two promising lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains Limosilactobacillus fermentum Pom5 and Pediococcus pentosaceus Chi8 were microencapsulated using the extrusion method with sodium alginate (SA) and sodium alginate-goat milk (SAGM) matrices. The results showed that the highest encapsulation yield was observed in SAGM microbeads. The surface of SAGM microbeads exhibited a smooth wavy appearance with a denser and layered structure. The viability of both microencapsulated and non-encapsulated LAB cells was assessed under various conditions including simulated gastrointestinal (GI) conditions refrigeration storage in goat milk at 4 ?C for 28 days and incubation under pasteurization temperature. The SAGM microbeads demonstrated the highest survival rate with viable cell counts consistently exceeding 6 log cfu/g when subjected to individual and sequential artificial GI conditions as well as other tested conditions. This sequential assessment provided a more realistic representation of the complex gastrointestinal environment. The maximum release rates of the SA and SAGM microbeads were 86.61% and 85.01% respectively after 6 h of incubation. This indicates that the encapsulated bacteria were gradually released from the microbeads over time. The study suggests that both SA and SAGM are suitable matrices for encapsulating the two strains of bacteria but SAGM showed particular promise as an effective encapsulation material for probiotic bacteria. ? 2023 Science Society of Thailand under Royal Patronage. All rights reserved.