Microencapsulation of Lactobacillus plantarum MTCC 5422 in fructooligosaccharide and whey protein wall systems and its impact on noodle quality

Noodles are staple cereal food in many countries; however addition of encapsulated probiotics into noodle formulation, its effect on noodle quality and cell viability has not yet been reported. The aim of this study was to prepare microencapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum (MTCC 5422) by freeze drying with wall material combinations such as fructooligosaccharide (FOS), FOS + whey protein isolate (WPI), and FOS + denatured whey protein isolate (DWPI) to evaluate best wall system. Results showed that FOS + DWPI wall system provided better protection to cells after drying, during storage (60 days, 4 °C) and in simulated acidic and bile conditions. Further, FOS + DWPI encapsulates were incorporated into noodle formulation and evaluated the noodle quality and probiotic cell viability of cooked noodle obtained from two different production methods: (i) fresh and (ii) dried (room temperature dried - RTD, 28 °C and high temperature dried - HTD, 55 °C ). The quality characteristics (cooking time, solid loss, texture, colour and sensory profiles) of FOS + DWPI encapsulates incorporated cooked noodles (both fresh and dried) were found to be acceptable. On evaluation of encapsulated probiotic bacteria L. plantarum cell viability, 93.63 % and 62.42 % cell survival was obtained in fresh noodles before and after cooking respectively. However, 80.29 % (RTD) and 64.74 % (HTD) of encapsulated cells were viable in dried noodles, after cooking there was complete survival loss. This study suggested that fresh noodle was found to be a suitable carrier system to deliver viable cells. This is first report on influence of probiotic microcapsules in noodle processing.