Advances in co-encapsulation of probiotics and prebiotics: From improving probiotic survivability, intestinal colonization and health benefits to food applications.

The stability and survival of probiotics in the gastrointestinal tract are major limitations affecting their health-promoting functions. Recently, co-encapsulation of probiotics with prebiotics has emerged as a promising approach to address these challenges. This review thoroughly examines various approaches, including spray drying, freeze drying, hydrogels, Maillard conjugates, and edible films, for co-encapsulating probiotics with prebiotics. Prebiotics provide enhanced protection to the encapsulated probiotic strains, improving their stability during environmental exposure, processing, and storage. The literature on co-encapsulated probiotics indicates enhanced survival rates throughout the gastrointestinal tract and improved gut colonization. The review also explores co-encapsulation as a promising approach for developing functional foods that meet scalability and regulatory requirements while preserving probiotic viability and health benefits in the host body. In conclusion, co-encapsulated prebiotics and probiotics show great potential as a scalable delivery system for developing functional foods with health-promoting effects.