Probiotics are the healthy microorganisms that help to balance gut flora. Despite their popularity, the path leading to launch can be bumpy when it comes to probiotic product formulation.
The majority of the gut health line from Plexus Worldwide features probiotic capsules and prebiotic delivered in a ready-to-mix (RTM) beverage. Michael Hartman, Ph.D., vice president, research and development (R&D) at Plexus, said a significant challenge in probiotic manufacturing is maintaining ingredient stability.
“Monitoring moisture, temperature and exposure to oxygen are the main factors influencing the stability and shelf life of probiotics. We address this through packaging, storage conditions and strain selection using probiotic strains that can survive the manufacturing process and deliverability to the gut to provide the desired benefit,” he stated.