Investigating the Effect of Microencapsulation of Lactobacillus Plantarum Bacteria with Chitosan/Alginate Microparticles on Oxidative Stress Indices in Nile Tilapia Fish (Oreochromis niloticus)

Microencapsulation of probiotic bacteria is an area that has rapidly expanded over the recent years. It is one of the new methods of improving probiotics stability, through which the biological agents are protected with an enclosed coating to release the active agents within the coating at a controlled rate in time and under special conditions.

The present study the aims to evaluate the effect of Lactobacillus plantarum microencapsulation with chitosan/alginate microparticles on the oxidative response of Nile tilapia fish (Oreochromis niloticus).

Herein, 240 pieces of Nile tilapia, with an average weight of 15.56±0.02 g, were randomly divided into four groups as follows: group1 or control with a diet without probiotics, groups 2, 3, and 4 respectively with a diet containing 108 Log CFU/g of unencapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum, a diet containing microencapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum, and with feed containing alginate with chitosan without the presence of bacteria. They were fed for 60 days at the rate of 2 % of body weight twice a day.

The activity level of oxidative enzymes, biochemical factors, and liver enzymes of the Nile tilapia fish were investigated. The findings revealed that oxidative enzymes, biochemical factors, and liver enzymes were positively affected in the groups with microencapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum (P<0.05). The three enzymes of alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, and alkaline phosphatase were higher in the micro-encapsulated probiotic group compared to the two groups of probiotics and alginate with chitosan without the presence of bacteria, and all the three groups performed better compared to the control (P<0.05).

Microencapsulation of probiotics maximizes the efficiency of probiotics in reducing oxidative stress.