Application of edible films containing probiotics in food products

The trend towards functional foods and healthy diets encourages researchers to produce new probiotic food products with improved probiotic delivery methods. Recently, edible films have been applied as carriers for probiotics, improving their survival in the foods and the gastrointestinal tract. This article is structured as follows: a description of edible films as probiotic carriers is followed by an introduction of the materials used as edible films in three main chapters (1) hydrocolloids (polysaccharides and proteins), (2) lipids and (3) composites. Then, probiotic viability in all mentioned edible films is discussed in detail and the impact of prebiotic incorporation is mentioned. Microbial, physicochemical, and sensory properties of edible film containing probiotics in food matrices are reviewed. Finally, the application of probiotic edible films in different food products is described.