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The oral delivery of probiotics to the colon is often challenging because probiotics tend to lose viability when exposed to the harsh conditions in the upper gastrointestinal tract, such as the highly acidic gastric fluids. Properly designed encapsulation technologies can be used to protect probiotics during their transit through the human gut. In this study, an anaerobic probiotic (Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum G7 or BPG7) was encapsulated within alginate microgels that also contained antacid agents to control their internal pH within the stomach. Probiotic-loaded microgels were exposed to a simulated gastrointestinal tract (GIT) model to establish the impact of gastric and small intestinal conditions on their physicochemical properties and cell viability. In the absence of antacids, no live probiotic cells were detected in the microgels after exposure to gastrointestinal conditions. Conversely, in the presence of antacids …