Preventative Health National Research Flagship researchers have developed a new way to protect health-promoting probiotic bacteria.

The Flagship work by researchers Ross Crittenden, Luz Sanguansri, Mary Ann Augustin, and Rangika Weerakkody, based at Food Science Australia, has been highlighted by the American Society for Microbiology (AMS) in the May 2006 edition of its journal Microbe.

Dr Crittenden says the paper published on the work highlights the development of a new microencapsulation technology that protects probiotic bacteria during drying, non-refrigerated storage, and passage through the gastrointestine.

The Flagship paper, "Synbiotic microcapsules that enhance microbial viability during nonrefrigerated storage and GI transit", details how the microcapsules have been designed to release the bacteria only once they are past the stomach, and we included prebiotic ingredients in the capsules that help the bacteria to grow in the gut.

"One of the main technological challenges emerging in the use of health-promoting probiotic bacteria, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacteria, is keeping them alive for months or years in non-refrigerated foods and pharmaceuticals," Dr Crittenden says.

"Also, many bacterial strains that have potentially good health-promoting properties have been precluded from use because they are not sufficiently robust to survive processing, storage and passage through the stomach."

Dr Crittenden says the technology will allow probiotics to be used in a much wider range of shelf-stable foods and remove the technological limitations on use of many probiotic strains.

"We are now planning to show that the microencapsulation technology can improve the survival and functionality of probiotics in vivo as well as in commercial food products, and we are seeking commercial partners to help us," he says.
 

Microbe paper authors (Left to right) Luz Sanguansri, Mary Ann Augustin, Ross Crittenden and Rangika Weerakkody.

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The Preventative Health Flagship is a CSIRO initiative and part of the National Research Flagships program that aims to deliver scientific solutions to advance Australia's most important national objectives. One of the largest scientific initiatives ever mounted in Australia, it aligns closely with the Federal Government's National Research Priorities. The initiative brings together our national research resources to deliver breakthroughs in fields ranging from healthcare to light metals and the environment.

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