ABSTRACT

Probiotics are a group of bacteria recognized as good or friendly bacteria and are used to reduce potentially harmful bacteria in the intestine. In order to ensure the minimum therapeutic level, which provides the health benets of probiotic consumption, the use of encapsulation techniques is needed. For this reason, microencapsulation of probiotic bacteria is currently used as a method to improve the stability of probiotic microorganisms in functional food products. There is a need for microencapsulation not only to help the probiotic bacteria to survive in the food product but also during the passage through the human gastrointestinal tract. In the microencapsulation process are used different biopolymers that ensure good protection of the stability and viability of probiotic bacteria. These biopolymers are non-cytotoxic, non-antimicrobial, biodegradable, and do not require the use of organic solvents for microcapsules preparation.