Nanostructures for the stabilization and delivery of lactic acid bacteria

Abstract

Probiotic microorganisms have a striking impact on human life. The advantages associated with these microorganisms are related to therapeutic effects, such as the prevention of gastrointestinal diseases, allergic reactions, and antibacterial, antimutagenic, and anticarcinogenic activity. Within this range of microorganisms, lactic acid bacteria have been used for centuries to ferment various products, which can be consumed daily and which are linked to the gastrointestinal health. The market opportunities and the resulting demands have dictated the development of a long-term protection system for probiotic bacteria. In this context, a protocol that allows the encapsulation of bacteria with and/or without fructo-oligosaccharides as prebiotic ingredient is described. The encapsulation is based on the layer-by-layer method, which consists of depositing several layers of polyelectrolyte with different and alternating surface charges on a substrate, i.e., the bacteria surface.