Introduction:

A functional food contains one or more substances that produce human health wellness, such as probiotics, prebiotics, phenolic compounds, unsaturated fatty acids, and others. In functional foods, probiotics must remain viable and active during their transit from food through the intestinal tract, to ensure its potential beneficial effect on the host. In the present study, the viability of the probiotic yeast Saccharomyces boulardii added to fresh cheese in both free form and encapsulated with alginate, inulin and mucilage from nopal (Opuntia ficus-indica) was evaluated under acidic conditions.

Method:

The free and encapsulated probiotic yeast food was exposed to pH 2.0 and 6.5 at exposure times of 0, 60, 120 and 180 min, this in order to simulate the acid conditions of the stomach and colon, respectively.

Results:

Further loss was observed in the viability of the probiotic in free which was 23.72, 27.03 and 33.02%, respectively, with respect to the initial viability; meanwhile, when the microorganism was added to the cheese in encapsulated form, loss of viability to the same exposure time was 5.74, 14.24 and 18.81% maintaining increased survival compared to the previous. Moreover, a pH of 6.5 the free probiotic in food showed a viability of 2.23, 3.50 and 5.94%, in encapsulated form instead of viability was 0.95, 2.20 and 3.03%, respectively, showing more viability when yeast was encapsulated.

Discussion:

Fresh cheese remains viable survival level of Saccharomyces boulardii, when was added in the encapsulated form as compared to the free state.