DEVELOPMENT OF SYNBIOTIC MILK CHOCOLATE USING ENCAPSULATED LACTOBACILLUS CASEI NCDC 298 SURAJIT MANDAL 1 , SUBROTA HATI, A.K. PUNIYA, RAMESHWAR SINGH and KISHAN SINGH Dairy Microbiology Division, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal 132001, Haryana, India 1 Corresponding author. TEL: +911842259183; FAX: +911842250042; EMAIL: mandalndri@rediffmail.com Accepted for Publication April 3, 2012 doi:10.1111/j.1745-4549.2012.00759.x ABSTRACT Milk chocolates were prepared by incorporating with free or encapsulated Lacto- bacillus casei NCDC 298 and inulin. Lactobacillus counts were remained above 8.0 log cfu/g until 60 days under refrigerated condition. Yeast and molds, and coliforms were found to be absent in the products during the storage. Sensory panelists liked the milk chocolate with encapsulated lactobacilli. Feeding of synbi- otic milk chocolate increased the fecal lactobacilli, decreased fecal coliforms and b-glucuronidase activity in mice. Thus, milk chocolate has been shown to be an excellent food for delivery of probiotic lactobacilli. Moreover, the addition of the encapsulated lactobacilli and inulin did not affect the sensorial quality of the products. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Development of nonfermented probiotic foods will diversify the probiotics appli- cations and increase the consumption round the year and across the population. INTRODUCTION The consumption of food products containing probiotics are on the rise (Stanton et al. 2001) as these foods are claimed to have a positive effect on health (Lee and Salm- inen 1995) and various probiotic functional foods have been developed all over the world. In general, the food industry has applied the recommended level of 10 6 cfu/g at the time of consumption for Lactobacillus acidophilus, bifidobacteria and other probiotic bacteria (Boylston et al. 2004). Prebiotics are digestible food ingredient that benefi- cially affects the human body, selectively stimulating the increase and/or activity of one or a limited group of colon bacteria. Inulin is an oligosaccharide extracted from com- monly consumed plants like onions, asparagus root, Jerusa- lem artichoke tuber, honey, oat, chicory, etc. (Bengmark et al. 2001), and it is a natural food ingredient and is classified as dietary fiber in most European countries (Roberfroid 2000). The term synbiotic is used when a product contains both probiotic and prebiotic ingredients. The synergism is attained in vivo by the ingestion of lactobacilli one hand and by promotion of indigenous bifidobacteria on the other hand (Schrezenmeir and de Verse 2001). Roberfroid (2000) suggested that these products can also improve the survival of bacteria during the gastrointestinal tract transient also. Significant challenges are the stability and survival of the probiotics during processing, storage as well during their passage through gastrointestinal tract (GIT). The bacteria must survive in the gut environment and establish in certain numbers for positive health effects (Kailasapathy and Chin 2000). Microencapsulation of probiotics in hydro- colloid beads has been tested for improving their viability in food products and during GIT transit (Krasaekoopt et al. 2003; Mandal et al. 2006, 2011; Annan et al. 2008). Microen- capsulation protects the cells from the adverse environment, and mild heat treatment, hence, potentially reduces cell injury and death (Mandal et al. 2006; Ding and Shah 2007). The development of heat stable microcapsules may be suitable for heated functional food products such as cakes and sausages (Arihara 2006). Encapsulated Lactobacillus casei NCDC 298 in alginate microspheres survived well during heat treatments at 65C for 20 min, at low pH (1.5) and high bile salt (2%) concentration (Mandal et al. 2006). Besides having excellent nutrients, milk chocolate has a higher pH and buffering capacity than the more traditional fermented probiotic foods, a more solid consistency and a higher fat content. Hence, the probiotics can be successfully Journal of Food Processing and Preservation ISSN 1745-4549 1 Journal of Food Processing and Preservation •• (2012) ••–•• © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.