ENHANCING PROBIOTIC VIABILITY IN FERMENTED MILK STARTER USING MALTODEXTRIN AND WHEY PROTEIN ISOLATE MICROENCAPSULATION TECHNIQUES

Probiotic microencapsulation encapsulates probiotics with a hydrocolloid layer to protect the probiotic cells of Pediococcus acidilactici BK01 and enhance the viability of probiotic cultures in fermented milk. Microencapsulation of probiotics can extend the shelf life of cultures and increase the viability of the digestive tract. The study examined the effectiveness of wall material using maltodextrin (MD) and whey protein isolate (WPI): Control (pure culture), MD (1:1.5), MD and WPI (1:1.5). The results demonstrated that the combination of maltodextrin and whey protein wall material had a significant difference (P<0.05) on total lactic acid bacteria (LAB), probiotic viability, gastric acid and bile salt viability, microencapsulation morphology, and moisture content. The combination of MD and WPI provided protection and improved the survival of probiotic cultures with a total LAB colony count of 13.57 x 109 CFU/ml, gastric acid and bile salt viability of 87.64% and 78.17%, moisture content of 9.20%, and a smoother and more compact morphological shape. In its application as a fermented milk starter, it exhibited a pH value of 4.92, titratable acidity of 1.57%, total LAB 12.08 x 109 CFU/mL, and moisture content of 85.48%. This study indicates that the combination of MD+WPI (1:1.5) has potential as a fermented milk starter because of its ability to increase the survival of the probiotic Pediococcus acidilactici BK01.