Luyao Xiao, Yingying Li, Juanjuan Tian, Jianzhong Zhou, Qian Xu, Li Feng, Xin Rui, Xia Fan, Qiuqin Zhang, Xiaohong Chen, Mingsheng Dong, Wei Li
Abstract
In this study, in order to evaluate influences of different drying methods on the structural characteristics, physicochemical properties and antioxidant activities of exopolysaccharides (EPS) from Lactobacillus helveticus MB2-1, three drying methods, including spray-drying (SD), freeze-drying (FD) and spray freeze-drying (SFD), were applied to dry EPS. Results showed that different drying procedures had no significant influence on the primary structure and constituent monosaccharides of EPSs. However, the surface morphology of the three dried EPSs varied greatly in size and shape due to different drying processes. Among three dried EPSs, the particle size distribution of spray freeze-dried EPS (SF-EPS) was relatively narrower and uniform. Additionally, SF-EPS behaved better apparent viscosity and emulsifying property than spray-dried EPS (S-EPS) and freeze-dried EPS (F-EPS). SF-EPS exhibited stronger antioxidant activities when compared with S-EPS and F-EPS, according to the results of scavenging activities on different radicals and chelating activity on ferrous ion. Overall, SFD was the appropriate method for industrial production of EPS from Lactobacillus helveticus MB2-1 with better physicochemical properties and antioxidant activities.