Spray drying of skim milk has been evaluated as a mean of preserving Lactobacillus paracasei SD1, which is a human-derived strain with probiotic potential. Our experiments revealed that an air outlet temperature of 80°C was optimal for spray drying. Such condition resulted in powder with moisture contents of 3.44±0.85% and viable counts of 7.5±0.20 × 108 CFU/ g. Although the probiotic strain appeared to be stressed from spray drying, bacteriocin production by L. paracasei SD1 was not affected by the process. The level of survival of L. paracasei SD1 remained constant at 108 CFU/g during 6 months of powder storage at 4°C, while a decline in the level of survival was observed for storage of powder at 25°C. Our data demonstrate that spray drying may be a cost-effective way to produce a large quantity of the probiotic L. paracasei SD1.
