Thecells were washed and resuspended in 0.1% peptone solution. Theprobiotic was microencapsulated via extrusion technique. Coatingmaterial were prepared using 1, 2 or 3% (w/v) of sodium alginateand autoclaved (121◦C, 15 min). The coating material was mixedwith immobilized probiotic-SB at different dry weight ratio of 1:0,1:1 and 1:1.5 (w/w). The homogenized mixture of immobilizedprobiotic-SB and coating solution was extruded through modifiedsyringe into sterile 0.1 M CaCl2. The formed microcapsules wereallowed to stand for 1 h for solidification, then rinsed and subse-quently kept in sterile 0.1% peptone solution at 4◦C for furtheranalysis.