Trends in Food Science & Technology 123 (2022) 69–86 Available online 9 March 2022 0924-2244/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Advances in extrusion-dripping encapsulation of probiotics and omega-3 rich oils Marjia Sultana a, b , Eng-Seng Chan c, d , Janarthanan Pushpamalar a, d , Wee Sim Choo a, d, * a School of Science, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, Bandar Sunway, 47500, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia b Department of Food Technology and Nutrition Science, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhali, 3814, Bangladesh c Chemical Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, Bandar Sunway, 47500, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia d Monash-Industry Palm Oil Education and Research Platform (MIPO), Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 47500, Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Bifdobacterium Bioactives Co-encapsulation Functional food Lactobacillus ABSTRACT Background: Probiotics and omega-3 rich oils are two health-benefcial bioactives added to a variety of foods to enhance their functional properties. However, these bioactives are highly sensitive to degradation during food handling and transit through the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Scope and approach: The goal of this review was to describe the benefts and drawbacks of extrusion technology in the food industry, as well as the viability of probiotics and oxidative stability of omega-3 rich oils encapsulated by extrusion technology after exposure to in vitro and in vivo systems, storage, and in the food system. This review also highlights the co-encapsulation concept of multiple bioactives along with the synergistic effects of co- encapsulated probiotics and omega-3 rich oils. Key fndings and conclusions: The survival of probiotics encapsulated using the extrusion process was found to be satisfactory in both the actual food system and the in vivo model. However, in the case of omega-3 rich oils, there is a lack of evidence to support the stabilization effect of the encapsulation technique using in vivo and real food models. A few studies found higher viability of probiotics and oxidative stability of omega-3 rich oils in co- encapsulation of these bioactives in one matrix rather than their single encapsulation by the extrusion tech- nique. For the commercial application of co-encapsulated probiotics and omega-3 rich oils, future research should focus on researching the interactions of co-encapsulated probiotics and omega-3 rich oils with real food systems, as well as in vivo and clinical studies to determine product functionality and effcacy. 1. Introduction Nowadays, the demand for functional foods is increasing due to the expectation of the consumers towards health benefts and disease pre- vention beyond nutrition (da Silva et al., 2016; Frakolaki et al., 2020). Japan frst highlighted the functional food concept in the 1980s. Following that, several countries have their own defnitions of func- tional foods, but no defnitive defnition has yet been established (Birch & Bonwick, 2019). The European Commission Concerted Action on Functional Food Science in Europe (FUFOSE) introduced functional foods as the foods that possess one or more benefcial functions in the human body to improve the health and well-being and/or to reduce certain types of disease beyond their nutritional values (Boone-Villa et al., 2019). Functional foods may be derived from one or a combina- tion of natural foods and/or a food modifed by adding/removing/replacing any component of it by unique growing, breeding, or biotechnological technique to enhance health benefcial functions (Boone-Villa et al., 2019). Previous epidemiological, in vivo, in vitro, and trial data revealed that functional foods strengthen the im- mune system, prevent certain diseases such as CVDs, diabetes, cancer, anemia, and other chronic diseases and delayed aging (Boone-Villa et al., 2019; Tripathi et al., 2019). Fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, spices, olive oil, faxseed oil, etc. are the naturally occurring functional foods containing bioactives such as omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and polyphenols required for human growth and development. Food industries are now more interested in promoting new and innovative functional foods by incorporating the essential bioactive components to meet the immerging demand of the consumers (Tripathi et al., 2019). Probiotics have been defned as “live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health beneft on the host” * Corresponding author. School of Science, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, Bandar Sunway, 47500, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. E-mail address: choo.wee.sim@monash.edu (W.S. Choo). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Trends in Food Science & Technology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tifs https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2022.03.006 Received 21 June 2021; Received in revised form 2 March 2022; Accepted 4 March 2022