Effects of green tea extract nanoencapsulation on the survival of Lactobacillus Casei and Bifidobacterium lactis in symbiotic ice cream

The application of natural compounds including green tea extract (GTE) in food preparation and pharmaceutical industries is limited. Nowadays, encapsulation in nanoliposomes could be used as a delivery system to protect compounds during processing and storage. In this study, physicochemical characterization of green tea extract encapsulated in nanoliposomes and its prebiotic activities on two probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus casei and Bifidobacterium lactis were evaluated in media and ice cream. At first, GTE encapsulated in liposomes by thin film layer method and with sonication liposomes reached to nanoscale. For evaluation of the prebiotic activity of nanoliposomal GTE on probiotics, 1% of nanoliposomal GTE in the presence of Lactobacillus casei and Bifidobacterium lactis was added to MRS broth and ice cream. The mean diameter of nanoliposomes was about 44/7± 1/9 nm and had 0/203 ±0/014 polydispersity index. Entrapment eficiency of nanoliposomal GTE under the optimum conditions was 97%. Moreover, addition of 1% nanoliposomal GTE significantly increased the growth rate of Lactobacillus casei and Bifidobacterium lactis in culture media (p