A Review on the Main Methods of Microencapsulation and Nanoenvelopment of Probiotics

Providing probiotics with a physical barrier is an efficient approach to protect microorganisms and to deliver them into the gut. In this case, encapsulation is a technique for putting probiotics in small capsules to enhance efficiency during processing and controlling of delivery in gut. Microencapsulation does not utilize capsules greater than 3 mm in length. Encapsulations that fall within the range of 1µm to 1000µm are classified as microencapsulation. Components between 1 nm and 100 nm are classified as nanocapsules or nanoenvelopment. This review focuses mainly on the methodological approach of probiotic microencapsulation and nanoenvelopment including materials, methods, advantages and disadvantages in food industry.