Can the Traditional Food - be Used for Treating Diarrhea?

Abstract

Normal microflora is important as protection of the host against diseases in the gastrointestinal tract. During periods of acute diarrhea, the normal gastrointestinal microflora is radically changed, including decrease of Lactobacillus, Bacteroides, and Bifidobacterium species. Several studies have indicated that the administration of probiotic agents may modulate the microbial balance of the host and reduce the acute episodes of diarrhea. Meta analysis showed that probiotic has strong evidence to overcome diarrhea.1 In daily food products, yoghurt is daily food that enriched by probiotics. Some observational study showed that people who drink yoghurt routinely be healthier than people who don’t drink yoghurt. In Indonesian culture, the food that have functional ingredient such as probiotic can be found in Indonesian community. Milk curd or “dadih” is a traditional fermented buffalo milk that have functional ingredients.2 It may be used to support or maintain normal body functions or reduce the risk of disease in the generally healthy population. However, this food need further study to evaluate what are its function and role for human health. A study from Surono, et al found that one of a novel probiotic from “dadih”, Enterococcus faecium IS 27-526 has significant positive effects on humoral immune response, salivary sIgA, in underweight pre-school children, and on weight gain of pre-school children.3 One of clinical study of this issue reported the effect of Pediococcus pentosaceus (P. pentosaceus) on stool frequency, TNF-α level, gut microflora balance in diarrhea-induced Mice. In this study, Yuliawati et al, was aimed to recognize the effect of P. pentosaceus supplementation on stool frequency, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and gut microflora balance in experimental mice with EPEC-induced diarrhea.4 This study used P. pentosaceus that was isolated from “dadih”, a traditional fermented buffalo milk. P. pentosaceus are Gram-positive, facultatively anaerobic, nonmotile and non-spore-forming, members of lactic acid bacteria. Like other lactic acid bacteria, P. pentosaceus Can the Traditional Food “Dadih” be Used for Treating Diarrhea?