Days L.acidophilus L.casei Free En-Hi&ALa En-AL4%b Free En-Hi&ALa En-Al4%b 0 8.698 9.601 9.42 8.748 8.301 8.477 7 8.6 9.3 9.397 8 8.278 8.384 14 8.505 9.1 9.389 7.778 8.146 8.291 21 8.468 8.9 9.318 7.568 8.1 8.198 28 8.451 8.85 9.24 7.477 8.079 8.105 35 8.301 8.82 9.113 7.486 7.994 8 42 8 8.77 8.845 7.409 7.929 7.919 49 7.9 8.7 8.654 7.358 7.845 7.786 56 7.568 8.66 8.397 7.278 7.69 7.733 63 7.185 8.602 8.38 7.146 7.582 7.6 70 6.948 8.54 8.25 7.095 7.462 7.337 77 6.711 8.486 8.11 6.845 7.304 7.284 84 6.474 8.47 8 6.544 7.227 7.22 91 6.039 8.45 7.94 6.23 7.204 7.1 a: Encapsulated by Hi maize starch and Calcium alginate (2% concentrations) b: Encapsulated by Calcium alginate (4%concentrations)

Table 1: Viability of probiotic bacteria (log cfu/mL) in encapsulated and un-encapsulated treatments over a 91-dayrefrigerated storage period (4ºC), per 7-day intervals.