The consumption of probiotics has been associated with a wide range of health benefits for consumers. Products containing probiotics need to have effective delivery of the microorganisms for their consumption to translate into benefits to the consumer. In the last few years, the microencapsulation of probiotic microorganisms has gained interest as a method to improve the delivery of probiotics in the host as well as extending the shelf life of probiotic-containing products. The microencapsulation of probiotics presents several aspects to be considered, such as the type of probiotic microorganisms, the methods of encapsulation, and the coating materials. The aim of this review is to present an updated overview of the most recent and common coating materials used for the microencapsulation of probiotics, as well as the involved techniques and the results of research studies, providing a useful knowledge basis to identify challenges, opportunities, and future trends around coating materials involved in the probiotic microencapsulation.

Cream cheese is a fresh acid-curd cheese with pH values of 4.5–4.8. Some manufacturers add a small volume of rennet at the beginning of milk fermentation to improve the texture of the cream cheese. However, there is no information about the effect that proteases other than chymosin-like plant-derived proteases may have on cream cheese manufacture. This work aimed to describe some proteolytic features of the protease extracted from fruits of Solanum elaeagnifolium Cavanilles and to assess the impact that this plant coagulant has on the viscoelastic properties of cream cheeses. Results showed that caseins were not hydrolyzed extensively by this plant-derived coagulant. In consequence, the ratio of milk clotting units (U) to proteolytic activity (U-Tyr) was higher (1184.4 U/U-Tyr) than reported for other plant proteases. The plant coagulant modified neither yield nor composition of cream cheeses, but viscoelastic properties did. Cream cheeses made with chymosin had a loss tangent value (tan δ = 0.257) higher than observed in cheeses made with 0.8 mL of plant-derived coagulant per liter (tan δ = 0.239). It is likely that casein fragments released by the plant-derived coagulant improve the interaction of protein during the formation of acid curds, leading to an increase in the viscoelastic properties of cream cheese.

Manganese peroxidases (MnP) from the white-rot fungi Phanerochaete chrysosporium catalyse the oxidation of Mn²⁺ to Mn³⁺, a strong oxidizer able to oxidize a wide variety of organic compounds. Different approaches have been used to unravel the enzymatic properties and potential applications of MnP. However, these efforts have been hampered by the limited production of native MnP by fungi. Heterologous expression of MnP has been achieved in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic expression systems, although with limited production and many disadvantages in the process. Here we described a novel molecular approach for the expression and purification of manganese peroxidase isoform 1 (MnP1) from P. chrysosporium using an E. coli-expression system. The proposed strategy involved the codon optimization and chemical synthesis of the MnP1 gene for optimised expression in the E. coli T7 shuffle host. Recombinant MnP1 (rMnP1) was expressed as a fusion protein, which was recovered from solubilised inclusion bodies. rMnP1 was purified from the fusion protein using intein-based protein purification techniques and a one-step affinity chromatography. The designated strategy allowed production of an active enzyme able to oxidize guaiacol or Mn²⁺.