The effect of honey supplementation on the survival and stability of free and encapsulated probiotics

Abstract

Honey is a prebiotic food that has many health benefits. Honey contains oligosaccharides that can be used to protect sensitive bioactive compounds. The purpose of this study was to see how encapsulation affects the survival of probiotics under different conditions. L. rhamnosus GG was encapsulated with sodium alginate and honey. The study had three treatments: free probiotics (control), encapsulated probiotics with sodium alginate (MWS) and encapsulated probiotics with honey (MWH). The microcapsules were analyzed using morphology, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The survival of both free and encapsulated probiotics was tested under simulated gastrointestinal conditions and high temperatures. Encapsulation with honey had significantly higher encapsulation efficiency (97%) and the probiotics encapsulated with honey had a higher survival rate compared to free cells. In conclusion, adding honey to encapsulated probiotics can improve their viability and stability under stressful conditions.

Keywords

• Encapsulation
• probiotics
• survivability
• stability
• characterization