Odun-Ayo, Frederick OluwasheyiMellem, John JasonReddy, Lalini2018-05-282018-05-282016Odun-Ayo, F. 2016. Improving the survival of probiotic in simulated conditions and azoxymethane-induced colon tumour bearing mice using modified citrus pectin-alginate microencapsulation. African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines. 13(2): 101-109.0189-6016 (print)2505-0044 (online)http://hdl.handle.net/10321/2990Background: For a probiotic to be viable it needs to be preserved at a recommended minimum level of 6–7 log10cfu/g in the product being consumed, as suggested by the International Dairy Federation. Different biopolymer matrices have been used for encapsulation of probiotic; however, loss of viability is still a challenge. Materials and Methods: Modified citrus pectin-alginate microbeads containing Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4356 was developed. Efficiency of the microbeads was evaluated in simulated conditions of the gastrointestinal tract and in Balb/c mice induced with colon tumor. Genomic identification of faecal lactobacilli samples from treated mice was also performed. Results: The Modified citrus pectin-alginate probiotic microbeads significantly enhanced the viability of Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4356 compared to the control (p< 0.05) both in vitro and in vivo. Exposure of the modified citrus pectin-alginate microbeads to 3 hours of simulated gastric juice resulted in 82.7% survival of L. acidophilus ATCC 4356. Also, the number of faecal lactobacilli in the modified citrus pectin-alginate probiotic treated mice increased by 10.2% after 28 days. Conclusion: Modified citrus pectin-alginate is a novel effective means of oral delivery of bacterial cells and bioactive compounds. Modified citrus pectin-alginate can be used in probiotic therapy which may improve the prevention of colon cancer.9 penModified citrus pectinAlginateProbioticMicroencapsulationArticlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajtcam.v13i2.13