Effect of trehalose and lactose as cryoprotectant during freeze‐drying, in vitro gastro‐intestinal transit and survival of microencapsulated freeze‐dried Lactobacillus casei 431 cells

A novel microencapsulation technique for Lactobacillus casei 431 cells was developed, and the bacterial stability was studied. Cryoprotective solutes were incorporated in the encapsulation mix to improve freeze‐drying survival. The losses of viable cells during drying were recorded as 1.7, 0.84 and 0.38 log Colony‐forming units (cfu)/g for control and samples with trehalose and lactose, respectively. During the simulated gastric‐intestinal transit, trehalose and lactose contributed to higher survivals of 3.1 and 3.0 log cfu/g, respectively, in gastric fluid and 1.3 log and 0.9 log cfu/g, respectively, in 1% bile extract solution. Higher temperature storage was found to be detrimental for cell viability.