How Can Probiotics stand the test of acidity in the stomach to do any good? Well, the researchers may have an idea. They have developed a protective gel sphere that may offer the probiotics a safer route.
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‘The reason why the research is important is that to make it to the intestine probiotics must first pass through the stomach which has a hostile acidic environment that can kill these beneficial bacteria.’
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To make the probiotic shield, the researchers mixed dilute solutions of cellulose and alginate, then added the "friendly" bacteria to that mixture. The final step was to drip this brew into a solution of calcium chloride. The researchers dropped the probiotic globs into an acidic stomach-like environment and found that the gel held onto the bacteria. By contrast, in a simulated intestine, which has a more neutral pH, the bacteria gel swelled, releasing the probiotics. They say that the next step is to test the encapsulation system in animals.
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Source-Eurekalert