Acta Scientiarum Polonorum Technologia Alimentaria

Background. Ice cream can serve as an effective vehicle for delivering probiotic bacteria with health-pro­moting benefits. This study aimed to extract pectin from bitter orange peel waste for use as a bioactive, prebiotic component in microcapsules containing Bifidobacterium lactis (B. lactis) and Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus (L. rhamnosus), to enhance the nutritional and functional properties of ice cream.
Materials and methods. Microcapsules were prepared using different ratios of bitter orange peel pectin (BOPP) to aluminum carboxymethyl cellulose (ACMC) (1:0, 1:1, and 1:1.5) as coating materials for the probiotics. The physical characteristics and microstructure of the microcapsules were examined. The optimal formulation was then incorporated into ice cream at 10%, 20%, and 30% concentrations. The resulting ice cream samples were analyzed for physicochemical properties, antioxidant activity, probiotic viability, and folate content.
Results. The 1:1 BOPP to ACMC ratio produced the most suitable formulation for application in ice cream. Ice cream containing 30% of the encapsulated probiotics showed the highest antioxidant activity and total phenolic content. Furthermore, the co-encapsulation of B. lactis and L. rhamnosu significantly enhanced both probiotic survival and folate levels.
Conclusions. The results indicate that microcapsules containing B. lactis and L. rhamnosus in a 1:1 ratio of ACMC to BOPP, particularly at 30% concentration, can be effectively used in probiotic ice cream, offering enhanced functional and nutritional benefits for industrial applications.