Formulation and evaluation of novel gelling agent as a probiotic delivery system : A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Food Innovation at Lincoln University

Abstract

Probiotics are gaining importance day by day and are being added into the diet with various mediums such as yogurt, butter and other diary products. However, the shelf life of the organism and all not much preserved in those scenarios if the packaging and the logistics are not good enough. So, the food technologists were finding ways to tackle this issue by trying to incorporate probiotic microbes into edible gels. Many researcher’s have succesfully engineered hydrogels which are capable enough to carry the probiotic organisms down the gastrointestinal tract. Most of the hydrogels used for delivery of probiotics use gelatine as plasticisers, but it is being manufactured from bovine or porcine sources, which is unaccepatable for certain religious and cultural groups. Thus, syntheisis a novel gel (NG) from completely from non animal sourced food grade material to become a probiotic delivery agent both topically and systemically. NG has been syntheisied by combining citric acid (CA) and disodium 5-guanylate (DG) in water forming a viscoelastic gel with good textural property to render itself as a profound topical probiotic agent for acne and other skin disorders. During the rheological analysis, NG was showing similar thixotropic behaviour as gelatine. Viscometric analysis of NG was carried out at different concentrations and at different tempertaure. NG was showing higher viscosity when stored at 4°C. Also, when the concnetration of CA and DG was varied there was a significant change in the rheology and textural property. This might be due to the hydrogen bond formation kinetics taking place when there is change in tempertaure. Benzac AC® anti acne gel was anylsed alongside with the NG and found that it has better cohessivness than NG but lacked hardness. However, the learning was to further research and formulate NG with a food grade polymer such as hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) to get good adhessive property so as to act as topical probiotic delivery agent.