Background and Objectives: The non-dairy probiotic products with valuable nutritional and therapeutic properties are novel issues in the field of industry, nutrition and medicine. The aim of this study is investigation of the effects of encapsulation on the survival of probiotic bacteria by emulsification method during heat the pasteurization process of orange juice.

Materials and Methods: In this research, L. acidophilus bacterium was used as probiotic genus in the orange juice. The probiotic bacteria were inoculated into orange juice in four forms: free, uncoated, monolayer coating and multilayer coating. Encapsulation of the probiotic bacteria was carried out by emulsification method by calcium alginate. The enumeration of probiotic microorganisms were carried out as pure plate in the culture medium of MRS Agar under the aerobic conditions at 37^oC for 48-72h. Statistical analysis was performed by factorial arrangement based on completely randomized design (CRD) in 0.05% confidence level.

Results: The results indicated that the viability loss of L. acidophilus bacteria undergoing pasteurization process was about 5 logarithmic cycles in free form whereas in the orange juice contained uncoated, monolayer and multilayer bacteria, this value was much lower (reported as about 3.33, 2.90 and 2.50 logarithmic cycles, respectively).

Conclusion: Orange juice is an appropriate raw material to provide the growth of L. acidophilus bacteria, and could be considered as a carrier for transferring the probiotic bacterium to the host body.

Keywords: Orange juice, Pasteurization, Encapsulation