Volume 13(2)/2021 DIFFERENTIAL AIR OUTLET TEMPERATURES TO IMPROVE SURVIVAL OF ENDOPHYTIC BACTERIA DURING SPRAY DRYING Authors Ishak, Z. , Mohd Anuar, S., Zainal, B. and Ernie Eileen, R.R. ABSTRACT Endophytic bacteria Bacillus subtilis strain LKM-BL isolated within tissues of healthy Theobroma cacao L. plants was subjected to spray dry to develop powder-form product of biological control agent. In this study, we evaluated applicability of using spray dry technique with different air outlet temperatures of 75, 80 and 85oC on survivability and moisture content of product. The endophytic bacteria culture was formulated with 10% (w/v) skimmed milk as carrier and heated with constant air inlet temperature of 120 ± 2oC using B-290 mini spray dryer. The result revealed that 75oC air outlet temperature gave the highest survival rate of 62% with suitable moisture contents of 3.77%. Thus, the development of powder-form biological control agent endophytic bacteria B. subtilis LKM-BL via spray drying has been proven as a potential technique to improve cells viability prior heat adaptation. VIEW PDF DOWNLOAD