3.1. Microsphere characteristics. Size and entrapment efficiency
Table 1 shows results for diameters and encapsulation yields of
chitosan-coated alginate microspheres containing bacteria B or L in
combination with or without quercetin. The mean diameters of microspheres
Q, Q+B and Q+L generatedwere significantly (pb0.05) higher
than B and L. The mean diameters of chitosan-coated alginate microspheres
B and L were 345.43 and 362.05 μm and of Q, Q+B and Q+L
were between 542 and 518 μm. Interestingly, there was a large variation
in capsule size depending of the probiotic strain and prebiotic contents.