Storage stability of microencapsulated <i>Lactobacillus rhamnosus</i> GG in hawthorn berry tea with flaxseed mucilage
Lai Ka Wai, Yu Hsuan How, Liew Phing Pui
Abstract
Viability of probiotics could be affected by the production process, storage in the food matrix, and the digestion processes in the human body. This study aimed to determine the storage stability of microencapsulated Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG with flaxseed mucilage in hawthorn berry tea. The different formulation was used to microencapsulate L. rhamnosus GG with or without the addition of flaxseed mucilage in the wall and core material. The L. rhamnosus GG microencapsulated with alginate–pectin–flaxseed mucilage and flaxseed mucilage in hawthorn berry tea under simulated gastrointestinal digestion showed the highest viability (7.5 log10 cfu/ml) at 4°C after 4 weeks of storage. The encapsulated L. rhamnosus GG with or without flaxseed mucilage had higher total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity in comparison to free L. rhamnosus GG cells at both temperatures after 4 weeks of storage. The results indicated that flaxseed mucilage had successfully protected L. rhamnosus GG from the harsh environment. Practical applications The microencapsulated L. rhamnosus GG in the hawthorn berry tea has met the minimum requirement of 106–107 cfu/ml probiotic cells to exert therapeutic health effects. Besides, the optimized L. rhamnosus GG microbeads with flaxseed mucilage could enhance the functional properties of hawthorn berry tea. Therefore, the L. rhamnosus GG-hawthorn berry tea developed in this study is a potential value-added functional food that could be marketed. Furthermore, the optimized L. rhamnosus GG microbeads in the study could also be incorporated into other functional foods.