Encapsulation of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum in W/O/W emulsion stabilized with whey protein isolate and konjac glucomannan complex.

This experiment investigated the encapsulation of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 1.0317 in a water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) emulsion to significantly enhance the activity of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 1.0317 under storage conditions, during pasteurization, and in simulated in vitro gastrointestinal digestion environments. Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 1.0317 was encapsulated in emulsion using whey protein isolate (WPI) alone or non-covalent complex of whey protein isolate and konjac glucomannan (KGM). Compared with the WPI-stabilized emulsion, the WPI-KGM stabilized emulsion had smaller particle size, better rheological properties, higher embedding efficiency and markedly improved the vitality of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 1.0317 after storage, pasteurization, low pH treatment, high concentration of bile salt treatment and simulated gastrointestinal digestion. As the mass ratio of WPI-KGM composite was 3:1, the highest embedding efficiency of W/O/W emulsion was 89.76 %. Moreover, compared with the free Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 1.0317 and its other encapsulated emulsion, when the WPI-KGM complex mass ratio is 3:1, the W/O/W emulsion containing Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 1.0317 has the highest activity of probiotics after 28 days of storage, pasteurization and simulated gastrointestinal digestion, which are 97.03 %, 74.15 % and 70.07 %, respectively. This study offers a novel idea for the emulsion system used in probiotic delivery based on WPI-KGM.