Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the protective effect of flaxseed mucilage on the co-extrusion microencapsulation of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG.
Methods: Core flow rate, chitosan coating, and flaxseed mucilage concentration were optimised for the microencapsulation of L. rhamnosus. The microbeads were characterised and evaluated on microencapsulation efficiency and cell released after 6 h of sequential digestion.
Results: The optimised parameters for the L. rhamnosus microencapsulation were 1.0 mL/min core flow rate, 0.4% (w/v) chitosan coating, and 0.4% (w/v) flaxseed mucilage. The L. rhamnosus microbeads with flaxseed mucilage in core and wall materials had a smooth surface with 781.3 µm diameter, the highest microencapsulation efficiency (98.8% w/w), lowest swelling (5196.7% w/w) and erosion ratio (515.5% w/w), and least cell release (<40% w/w) with 9.31 log10 CFU mL-1 after sequential digestion.
Conclusions: This study showed the protective capacity of flaxseed mucilage towards the L. rhamnosus GG during microencapsulation and gastrointestinal environment.
Keywords: Microencapsulation; controlled release behaviour; microencapsulation efficiency; optimisation; prebiotic; sequential digestion.