Design of probiotic delivery systems for targeted release

The global demand for probiotics is increasing due to their potential for improving human health and wellbeing. However, probiotics are prone to degradation during passage through the human body and may not adequately colonize targeted sites, like the colon. As a result, researchers have been developing encapsulation technologies to protect probiotics within the human body and to target their delivery to specific sites of interest. Moreover, researchers are focusing on creating adhesive materials to improve the in vivo colonization of probiotics. This review focuses on the design of probiotic delivery systems. Initially, it summarizes our current understanding of the adhesion of probiotics to different biological surfaces in the human body. Then, it discusses different kinds of probiotic delivery systems, and the approaches that can be used to obtain targeted release, such as pH-, enzyme-, and microbial-responsive systems. Finally, it discusses the main challenges in improving the protection, release, and adhesion of encapsulated probiotics, as well as areas where future research is required. The information provided in this article may facilitate the design of more efficacious probiotic delivery systems, which would be useful for personalized nutrition and medical applications.