Chocolate with probiotic microcapsules is a new product of functional nutrition

Abstract

Probiotics can help improve digestion, strengthen the immune system and even fight diseases. But until now, there was no easy way to introduce enough probiotics into our body. Microencapsulated probiotics offer a solution to this problem. They are small enough to be easily digested, and are protected from the aggressive environment of the stomach. Chocolate represents a ubiquitous and popular consumable, yet probiotics within food matrices necessitate strategies for stress mitigation and enhancement of viability. One such method involves the encapsulation of probiotic cells within alginate microspheres, amenable for incorporation into chocolate matrices. In this regard, the aim of study is to explore the effect of microencapsulation on the survival of probiotics in chocolate. Conventional microbiological methods were used: growing bacteria in liquid and solid media, determining the titer of bacteria using the Koch method. The results demonstrated the successful production of chocolate containing microcapsules of probiotics with favourable organoleptic properties. Enhanced viability preservation of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG in microcapsules compared to free cells was observed.