The inside of the microparticles was composed of a mesh-like
network of alginate, through which bacteria were distributed,
sequestered in voids (Fig. 3C, D). These pictures show that the
presence of the bacteria during gelation seems to cause local
changes in the gelation process with the occurrence of the ‘void
space’ phenomenon also observed in fermented dairy products.
This phenomenon consists of the formation of cavities in thematrix
because of the presence of bacteria in these spaces (Allan-Wojitas
et al., 2008).