Enhanced Bacterial Viability of Freeze-dried Probiotics using the Supercooling Pretreatment

Freeze-drying is the state of the art in drying for preparation of such susceptible probiotics withminimum losses in quality. However the freezing process can lead to cell damages due to icecrystal formation resulting in reduction in the viability and physiological functionality ofprobiotics. In temperature drops from 37 to -80 degC with slow drop rates there was a considerableloss of cell viability with average survival rates of 75% in commercial facilities. The addition ofcryoprotectants could significantly reduce drying damage and improved storage stability. Howeverthe protective mechanisms are complex and are not fully understood. In order to ensure the viabilityand uniform quality of freeze-dried probiotic products special attention needs to be paid tosupercooling as a pretreatment process. Jun Innovations has developed a proprietary supercoolingtechnology using the combined treatment of pulsed electric and oscillating magnetic fields thatpreserves perishable materials at below-freezing temperatures without the formation of ice crystals.By implementing the controlled supercooling phenomenon (-10 degC or below) prior to freeze- drying it is anticipated to inhibit ice nucleation and hence achieve a high degree of supercoolingleading to formation of smaller and finer ice crystals in the end products which would increase theviability of probiotic bacteria armored with cold stress adaptation to survive during manufacturingas well as storage. The proposed research work plans will cover the development and optimizationof our currently available supercooling module as integrated in a part of freeze-drying to improvehealth-promoting benefits of commercial probiotic products.