Cassava (Manihot esculenta) as encapsulant of Bifidobacterium animalis: Structural characteristics, storage stability and gastrointestinal protection

The edible cassava ( Manihot esculenta ) cultivars Ourinho (OUR) and IPR-Upira (UPI) were investigated as wall materials for spray-dried Bifidobacterium animalis BB-12, aiming to link matrix structure with storage stability and gastrointestinal protection. Both cultivars promoted high cell survival after drying, yielding spherical particles with low water activity (0.215-0.247) and negative zeta potentials of approximately -26 mV. Cultivar-specific differences were observed during long-term storage and simulated gastrointestinal digestion. After 120 days, BB-12 viability decreased by 0.86 and 1.57 log CFU/g in OUR microcapsules stored at 4 and 25 °C, respectively, compared with 1.70 and 2.93 log CFU/g for UPI. OUR also provided greater protection during simulated gastrointestinal conditions, with viability reductions of ≤ 0.5 log CFU/g and final counts of ≥ 7.3 log CFU/g , whereas UPI showed greater reductions and final counts of approximately 6.5 log CFU/g. Free BB-12 cells consistently exhibited significantly greater losses in viability than cells encapsulated with either OUR or UPI throughout storage and simulated gastrointestinal digestion ( p < 0.05). OUR microcapsules also exhibited greater particle uniformity, whereas UPI showed slightly higher thermal stability. Among the two cassava cultivars evaluated, OUR provided superior long-term protection of BB-12 during storage and simulated gastrointestinal digestion.These findings support the potential of cassava as plant-derived encapsulating material and identify the OUR cultivar as particularly promising for applications requiring long-term probiotic stability.