A Review on Probiotic Microencapsulation and Recent Advances of their Application in Bakery Products

The present consumer market is concerned about a healthy diet and the demand for such products has been on the rise. Intense research has been conducted on gut microbiota for the maintenance of human health. Half of the population of gut microbes can be lost due to changes in diet. To maintain this gut microbial balance, the use of probiotics has received increasing attention. Several dairy-based probiotic foods have been developed up to date to meet this need. However, these products have the limitations such as lactose intolerance, a requirement of cold storage conditions, allergenicity to milk proteins, and high fat and cholesterol content. Considering these limitations, several non-dairy-based probiotic products have been developed among which probiotic bakery products are of an innovative research field. This review focuses on the probiotic products in the bakery food category, collates the scientific literature, and research conducted on probiotic bakery products. Different microencapsulation technologies such as freeze-drying, spray drying, extrusion, spray chilling, and emulsion along with their principles used for improving viability have also been discussed. Factors that affect probiotic viability including strain type, food pH, water activity of the food product, and food matrix type have been highlighted.