Development of a novel probiotic effervescent tablet with calcium fortification using immobilized probiotic in Nile tilapia bio-calcium

Abstract This study aimed to develop a novel calcium fortified probiotic effervescent tablets (ET) using immobilized probiotics in bio-calcium derived from Nile tilapia bones (Bio-Ca/IP). The effervescent tablets (2.25 g/tablet) were prepared using immobilized Lactobacillus acidophilus TISTR1338 at different concentrations (0%, 30%, 35%, 40% (w/w)) and analyzed for their characteristics, calcium and probiotic contents and sensory properties as well as the changes after digestion in a gastrointestinal (GI) tract model system. The results showed that Bio-Ca/IP levels used governed the texture, disintegration and characteristics of resulting solutions, which determined the palatability characteristics of ETs. And all ETs tested revealed the good acceptance from panelists. Calcium content of the ETs increased as the amount of Bio-Ca/IP increased, where the highest Bio-Ca/IP used (ET-40) provided a calcium fortified product with 111.01 mg/tablet. The viability probiotic count in ETs was more than 10 6 CFU/g. Nevertheless, the lowest Bio-Ca/IP tested (ET-30) showed no probiotic survival after tableting. After digestion in GI tract, probiotic survivability in ET-35 and ET-40 was over 99%. Notably, Bio-Ca/IP level used rendered the calcium bioaccessibility of ETs. Decreased calcium bioaccessibility was observed by ETs with Bio-Ca/IP more than 30%. However, ET-35 and ET-40 showed a high calcium bioaccessibility range from 43.53–44.83%. This study indicated that ETs from Bio-Ca/IP could effectively provide multifunction supplements as a calcium fortified probiotic product. Graphical Abstract