Bioactivity of Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) Peels Flour to Improve Probiotics Viability in Micro Co-Encapsulation by Ionic Gelation

Important ingredients in the food industry, like dietary fiber as prebiotic, or polyphenols with antioxidant and antimicrobial activity, can be obtained from agro-industrial coproducts. In this research, pomegranate peel flour was employed as co-encapsulant by ionotropic gelation to obtain a synbiotic capsule. There was a considerable amount of insoluble fiber (27.2 +/- 1.4 %) and the polyphenols demonstrated an acceptable antioxidant capacity (TEAC= 1121) and antimicrobial activity as well (equal to tetracycline, higher than erythromycin). Pomegranate peel flour resulted in higher mean growth rate values and mean generation times, indicating the LAB capacity to metabolize the insoluble fiber, related to prebiotic activity. As co-encapsulant ingredient, pomegranate peel flour, enhanced the viability of the encapsulated probiotic strains, maintaining the mean growth rate constant during storage. Since co-encapsulation maintained a high cells viability (>80%), the pomegranate peel flour can be employed as a prebiotic co-encapsulant to develop symbiotic ingredients for the food industry.