Hydrogel Coencapsulation Provides Synergistic Protection of Lactobacillus casei and Tocotrienol-Enriched Flaxseed Oil during In Vitro Digestion and Storage

This study aimed to co-encapsulate Lactobacilluscasei and tocotrienol-enriched flaxseed oil in calciumalginate-carboxymethyl cellulose (CA-CMC) hydrogel beads. Encapsulationefficiencies of oil and L. casei wereapproximately 88 and 84%, respectively, in co-encapsulated CA-CMCbeads having 1.74 mm diameter. Higher swelling and oil release wereobserved in intestinal fluid than in gastric fluid. Higher viabilityof L. casei was observed in the co-encapsulatedbeads than the single encapsulated beads of L. casei during in vitro digestion and storage. Higher oxidative stabilityof oil was found in the co-encapsulated beads than the single encapsulatedbeads of oil during storage. Thus, this study demonstrated a synergisticinteraction between L. casei and tocotrienol-enrichedflaxseed oil in the co-encapsuled CA-CMC beads during in vitro digestionand storage. The co-encapsulated CA-CMC beads have good potentialto simultaneously deliver the health benefits of these three bioactiveswhen incorporated into a food system.