Investigating the survival of microencapsulated Lactobacillus acidophilus in double emulsion with Persian gum during storage and digestive simulating conditions

Microencapsulation is a common method to improve the viability of probiotic bacteria against environmental stresses. In this research, by using double emulsion with Persian gum, emulsion stability, physicochemical properties, microcoating efficiency and microcoating viability were investigated during storage and in a simulated gastrointestinal conditions of the digestive system. Encapsulation of Lactobacillus acidophilus in double emulsion (W/O/W) with Persian gum improved the survival under storage conditions at 4 °C for 28 days, and only 0.58 log decreased and free bacteria after passage 7 days reached zero. The microcoating efficiency was 88% and the emulsion stability was between 85% and 95.43%. The optical microscope image showed a distinct double emulsion. In the simulating conditions of the stomach, the number of bacteria decreased by 1.97 log for the micro-coated treatment and by 3.9 log for the treatment containing free bacteria, and in the simulating conditions of the intestine, it decreased by 0.45 log for the micro-coated treatment and for the treatment containing free bacteria. 1.3 decreased. The particle size was (525 nm), zeta potential (-44.68 mv) and dispersion index (0.33). The results showed that the use of Persian gum double emulsion improves the survival of Lactobacillus acidophilus against storage conditions and the simulated environment of the digestive system.