An analysis was made of the use of whey fermentation by Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-5 for encapsulated probiotic bacteria cell production. Fermentation was done in a 2-liter Biostat B Fermentor at 28±1 ºC without air supply and agitation maintained at 200 rpm. Different processing conditions were studied using Center Composite Design applied to Surface Response Methodology. Maximum cell yield (2.7 x10(10) NMP/mL for 36 hours) was achieved with 30.85 g/L of lactose, a pH value of 6.45 and 1.04 g/L of inoculum. Cell growth was evaluated using reconstituted and fresh whey after 144 hours of fermentation in pre-optimized conditions. Cell concentration after fermentation was 10(10) MPN/mL in all the assays. The Verhulst model proved to be satisfactory to fit the experimental results, providing a stationary cell concentration of 6.0 g/L and a specific growth rate of 0.09 h-1. Cells were collected by centrifugation at 15000g for 5 minutes at 4 ºC, immobilized in 2% alginate, and dried to a constant weight at 50 ºC. Immobilized probiotic cells presented 10(11) MPN/g, a time required to kill 90% of the organisms (D value) of 18 h (70 ºC), an activation energy of 76.04 kJ/mol for thermal inactivation, and an in vitro resistance to low pH (D value of 62.5 min at 37 ºC, pH 2.5).
Lactobacillus acidophilus; Immobilized cells; Probiotics; Whey
