High-speed electrospinning of phycocyanin and probiotics complex nanofibrous with higher probiotic activity and antioxidation.

This study reports for the first time the co-encapsulation of probiotics and phycocyanin by electrospinning. SEM showed that the electrospun fibers exhibited a homogeneous, smooth surface and a circular shape. XRD and ATR-FTIR results showed that Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 1-24-LJ and Pc were co-embedded in the fibers and that the presence of L. plantarum 1-24-LJ promoted the encapsulation of phycocyanin. TG analysis showed that the addition of phycocyanin and L. plantarum 1-24-LJ improved the composite fiber's thermal stability. The fibers co-embedded with phycocyanin and L. plantarum 1-24-LJ had the highest DPPH and ABTS activity, indicating that the two may have synergistic antioxidant effects. After 28 days, the viability of the strain could still be above 6 log cfu/g, and the addition of phycocyanin could help to improve the strain's survivability. In this experiment, a co-embedding method for probiotics and antioxidants was proposed, which could effectively increase the survivability of probiotics and improve the antioxidant properties of the fibers.