title: Drying techniques of probiotic bacteria as an important step towards the development of novel pharmabiotics.
abstract: The increasing knowledge about the human microbiome leads to the awareness of how important probiotics can be for our health. Although further substantiation is required, it appears that several pathologies could be treated or prevented by the administration of pharmaceutical formulations containing such live health-beneficial bacteria. These pharmabiotics need to provide their effects until the end of shelf life, which can be optimally achieved by drying them before further formulation. However, drying processes, including spray-, freeze-, vacuum- and fluidized bed drying, induce stress on probiotics, thus decreasing their viability. Several protection strategies can be envisaged to enhance their viability, including addition of protective agents, controlling the process parameters and prestressing the probiotics prior to drying. Moreover, probiotic viability needs to be maintained during long-term storage. Overall, lower storage temperature and low moisture content result in good survival rates. Attention should also be given to the rehydration conditions of the dried probiotics, as this can exert an important effect on their revival. By describing not only the characteristics, but also the viability results obtained by the most relevant drying techniques in the probiotic industry, we hope to facilitate the deliberate choice of drying process and protection strategy for specific probiotic and pharmabiotic applications.
authors.affiliation: University of Antwerp, Department of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences, Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmacy, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium; University of Antwerp, Department of Bioscience Engineering, Research Group Environmental Ecology and Applied Microbiology, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium. Electronic address: geraldine.broeckx@uantwerpen.be.
authors.forename: Géraldine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Broeckx
authors.affiliation: University of Antwerp, Department of Bioscience Engineering, Research Group Environmental Ecology and Applied Microbiology, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium. Electronic address: dieter.vandenheuvel@uantwerpen.be.
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vandenheuvel
authors.affiliation: University of Antwerp, Department of Bioscience Engineering, Research Group Environmental Ecology and Applied Microbiology, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium. Electronic address: ingmar.claes@uantwerpen.be.
authors.forename: Ingmar J J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Claes
authors.affiliation: University of Antwerp, Department of Bioscience Engineering, Research Group Environmental Ecology and Applied Microbiology, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium. Electronic address: sarah.lebeer@uantwerpen.be.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lebeer
authors.affiliation: University of Antwerp, Department of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences, Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmacy, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium. Electronic address: filip.kiekens@uantwerpen.be.
authors.forename: Filip
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kiekens
mesh_terms: D002626:Chemistry, Pharmaceutical / Q000379:methods*; D005612:Freeze Drying; D006801:Humans; D008140:Lorazepam; D050296:Microbial Viability; D064307:Microbiota; D019936:Probiotics / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D008140:Lorazepam
keywords: Fluid bed drying; Freeze drying; Probiotics; Spray drying; Vacuum drying