Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Palmkron, Shuai Bai
• Bergenståhl, Björn
• Hall, Stephen
• Håkansson, Sebastian
• Wahlgren, Marie
• Larsson, Emanuel
• Fureby, Anna Millqvist

Titel

The Impact of Annealing Methods on the Encapsulating Structure and Storage-Stability of Freeze-Dried Pellets of Probiotic Bacteria

Ist Teil von

• Pharmaceutical research, 2024-08, Vol.41 (8), p.1671-1682

Ort / Verlag

New York: Springer US

Erscheinungsjahr

2024

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Objective This paper investigates the critical role of material thickness in freeze-dried pellets for enhancing the storage stability of encapsulated bacteria. Freeze dried material of varying thicknesses obtained from different annealing durations is quantified using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray microtomography (μCT), the material thickness is then correlated to the storage stability of the encapsulated cells. Methods A formulation comprising of sucrose, maltodextrin, and probiotic cells is quenched in liquid nitrogen to form pellets. The pellets undergo different durations of annealing before undergoing freeze-drying. The material thickness is quantified using SEM and μCT. Storage stability in both oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor environments is evaluated by measuring CFU counts and correlated with the pellet structure. Results The varying annealing protocols produce a range of material thicknesses, with more extensive annealing resulting in thicker materials. Storage stability exhibits a positive correlation with material thickness, indicating improved stability with thicker materials. Non-annealed pellets exhibit structural irregularities and inconsistent storage stability, highlighting the impracticality of avoiding annealing in the freeze-drying process. Conclusions Extensive annealing not only enhances the storage stability of probiotic products but also provides greater control over the freeze-drying process, ensuring homogeneous and reproducible products. This study underscores the importance of material thickness in freeze-dried pellets for optimizing storage stability for probiotic formulations, and emphasize the necessity of annealing as a critical step in freeze-drying quenched pellets to achieve desired structural and stability outcomes.