Exopolysaccharide Production and Prevention of Syneresis in Starch Using Encapsulated Probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum

Bindhumol Ismail and Kesavan Madhavan Nampoothiri*

National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), CSIR, Trivandrum 695 019, Kerala, India

Article history:
Received March 17, 2010
Accepted May 10, 2010

Key words:
encapsulation, exopolysaccharide, lactic acid bacteria, probiotics, response surface methodology (RSM), syneresis

Summary:
Encapsulation of probiotic bacteria with a matrix can increase their survival rate by protecting them from adverse conditions and at the same time without affecting the production of metabolites. An effort has been made to encapsulate the probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum using calcium alginate. Box-Behnken model of response surface methodology (RSM) was employed in the optimization of major encapsulation conditions such as concentration of sodium alginate, calcium chloride and curing time. The second-order quadratic model with the optimum conditions (sodium alginate 2 % (by mass per volume), calcium chloride 0.5 M and curing time 3 h) resulted in a maximum titre of (0.9±0.1) g/L of exopolysaccharides (EPS) at 72 h. The nearness of the coefficient of determination (R²=0.97) to 1 ensures the satisfactory adjustment of the quadratic model to the experimental data. The efficiency of EPS production by encapsulated cells was compared with free cells. The efficacy of secreted EPS in the prevention of syneresis in starch was investigated.

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