Developing a functional lozenge with microencapsulated Lactiplantibacillus pentosus to improve oral and dental health

Abstract

In this study, a functional lozenge was developed by using microencapsulated Lactiplantibacillus pentosus NRRL-B 227. Antimicrobial activity of L. pentosus was determined to find out the efficiency on cariogenic and pathogen microorganisms that are known to cause dental caries and gum diseases. Streptococcus mutans is a well-known cariogenic strain, which easily converts sugars to acids and exert adverse effects on dental health. Candida albicans is an opportunistic pathogen when body resistance is weak, it becomes dominant in the mouth, causing disruption of oral health. Within this context, by applying several methods (e.g. broth microdilution, disc diffusion, agar overlay and planktonic culture assays), L. pentosus showed antibacterial and antifungal activities against S. mutans ATCC 25175 and C. albicans DSMZ 5817, respectively. Thus, three different lozenge formulation were produced such as; CL control formulation without cells, CPL formulation containing micro encapsulated cells and FPL formulation containing free cells. The microbiological, physicochemical and sensorial studies were carried out for all formulations stored at 4 degrees C and 25 degrees C. Among these, CPL was found to be more stable than FPL, since microencapsulation with Pullulan/WPC water-in-oil emulsion play a protective role. L. pentosus viability has been lost after 1 month at 25 degrees C, however the viability was maintained without significant reduction at 4 degrees C in case of CPL samples. In the light of findings, lozenge formulation incorporated with L. pentosus can be considered as potential antimicrobial to improve oral health and therefore may become a promising candidate to contribute to the range of functional food products.