ABSTRACT
Aims: This study aimed to investigate the suitability and efficacy of various encapsulation media in bioencapsulating the probiotic Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis in Artemia franciscana nauplii. The impact of the encapsulation media on nauplii survival and probiotic recovery was also determined. Methodology and results: Various encapsulation media (sodium alginate, palm oil, starch, gum Arabic and gelatin) were prepared by dissolving the respective media in artificial sea water. Each media was prepared in four different concentrations: 0.25, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 g/L. To determine the suitability of encapsulation media on the survivability of A. franciscana, survival rate (SR) of Artemia nauplii was determined after 8 hours post-encapsulation. Instar II stage Artemia nauplii at 1 nauplii per mL was used for each replicate. The result revealed that A. franciscana reached 100 % SR in the encapsulation media at ≤ 0.5 g/L. All media enabled > 23 % recovery of L. lactis subsp. lactis from encapsulated A. franciscana, which is similar (p > 0.05) to the recovery of free-cells (non-encapsulated) of L. lactis subsp. lactis. Noticeably in sodium alginate (E1) treatment, the total counts of L. lactis subsp. lactis in bioencapsulated A. franciscana were the highest among others, accounting for 2.44 × 107 CFU/mL per A. franciscana tissue homogenate. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: Artemia nauplii bioencapsulated with L. lactis subsp. lactis using 0.5 g/L sodium alginate as encapsulation medium has the highest SR for nauplii and bioencapsulation efficiency, respectively. This result provides a basic guideline for Artemia bioencapsulation in fish/shrimp larval culture.