Improving Survival of Culture Bacteria in Frozen Desserts by Microentrapment

¹ Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Missouri, 122 Eckles Hall, Columbia 65211

Lactobacillus bulgaricus cells were entrapped in beads of calcium alginate and evaluated for their ability to survive freezing processes. Cells survived freezing (without agitation) in ice milk mix much better than in distilled water, and more entrapped cells survived than did cells that were not entrapped. Glycerol and mannitol were cryoprotective, but glucose was not, when each was added (6%) separately to the beads. Entrapment protected the lactobacilli in batch frozen and continuously frozen ice milk mixes. The percentage of survival for entrapped and unentrapped cells in continuously frozen ice milk approximated 90 and 40%, respectively. Lactobacilli survived better in beads with mean diameters >30 µm than in those averaging 15 µm. Addition of entrapped lactobacilli had no measurable effect on the sensory characteristics of the ice milk.

Key Words: calcium alginate • frozen desserts • Lactobacillus bulgaricus • microentrapment

Submitted on November 23, 1992
Accepted on March 11, 1993

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