Lactobacillus plantarum T17 from traditional sourdough was encapsulated in emulsion templated layer-by-layer sodium alginate/chitosan aerogel. The effective encapsulation density of sodium alginate/chitosan aerogel（ALC） and the emulsion templated aerogel （EAC） on the Lactobacillus plantarum T17 were 1.19×107 CFU/g and 5.57×107 CFU/g， respectively. The FTIR results indicated the electrostatic interaction between sodium alginate and chitosan could be achieved by layer adsorption. The electrostatic interaction between the sodium alginate and isolated whey protein also took place in the aerogels with emulsion as template， which made the particles have a more compact structure. The SEM observation showed smoother surface of EAC compared to the ALC. EAC showed better protection effect for the Lactobacillus plantarum in the freeze-drying process. After the 5 weeks' storage in 4 ℃， the Lactobacillus plantarum in ALC and EAC decreased 0.88 lg（CFU/g） and 0.36 lg（CFU/g）， respectively. The alginate/chitosan aerogel showed effective protect for the Lactobacillus plantarum T17 and the emulsion templated aerogel showed better storage stability.