Evaluation of viability of multilayer microcapsules of Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Lactobacillus Plantarum under gastric and intestinal simulation conditions

In order to targeted delivery of probiotics for food and drug applications and their effectiveness in preventing and treating various diseases, designing effective systems in this field can be helpful. In this paper, a new system for targeted delivery of probiotics has been introduced. The objectives of this study included: the efficiency of anti-acid microgels coated by multilayer polyelectrolyte formulation of alginate-chitosan for survivability of probiotic bacteria in gastric and intestinal simulation conditions. Tow Strains of probiotic bacteria including Lactobacillus Rhamnosus and Lactobacillus Plantarum were encapsulated separately in alginate hydrogels and calcium carbonate as an antacid agent (to control pH under acidic conditions) and coated with double bilayer alginate-chitosan by LbL self-assembly technique. The results showed that ( in the presence of pepsin enzyme and at pH=1.8 and in the presence of pancreatin enzyme and at pH=6.8), the survivability of these bacteria increased significantly compared to lactobacillus Plantarum and Lactobacillus rhamnosus 6 log(cfu/g) and 2.5 log(cfu/g) respectively. The number of viable cells in both probiotic strains was higher than the acceptable therapeutic level. In general, these results showed that these microcapsules can be used in controlled delivery of probiotics as food supplements successfully.