Preservation of Postbiotics by Spray-Drying Microencapsulation

Encapsulation is a well-known technology to improve the stability of bioactive compounds and the effective delivery at the right place and time. Encapsulation applications span across diverse industrial fields, including food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and agriculture. Nowadays, there is a wide range of technologies classified according to the resulting particle size or hydrophobicity, the chemical or physical process used to form the particles, and the intended application (Alu’datt et al. Food Biosci 50:101971). Moreover, the number of technologies available to encapsulate bioactive compounds is increasing with new technological advances, such as electrospraying or nano spray-drying techniques . This chapter will focus on an encapsulation technique widely implemented in the food or pharmaceutical industry—spray drying—and the use of some common polysaccharides as encapsulating materials to improve the stability of postbiotic compounds.