Growth of probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 using saccharified oil palm mesocarp fibre as affected by saccharification time and fermentation time

N.H Mohd,M.Y Maskat,M.M Mackeen,A.M Sahilah,N.A.M Zaini,E.E Sage

doi:10.26656/fr.2017.6(1).723

Abstract

Abundant low-cost oil palm mesocarp fibre could serve as a potential feedstock for the production of oligosaccharides which may have prebiotic properties. Thus, a study was carried out to determine the ability of saccharified oil palm mesocarp fibre (OPMF) to support the growth of a probiotic microorganism (Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1). The saccharified OPMF was produced using different saccharification times (1, 3 and 6 hrs) while fermentation of the saccharified OPMF with L. rhamnosus GR-1 was carried out for 0, 12 and 24 hrs. Growth of L. rhamnosus GR-1 was measured based on OD600 using a UV-spectrophotometer along with the pH of the growth media. The results showed a significantly higher (p<0.05) growth of L. rhamnosus GR-1 with increasing saccharification time and fermentation time. Increased saccharification time of up to 6 hrs also resulted in a higher variety of oligosaccharides compared to 1 hour and significantly reduced (p<0.05) pH of the growth media. The use of saccharified OPMF produced comparable growth of L. rhamnosus GR-1 with significantly lower (p<0.05) pH compared to using fructooligosaccharide in the growth media. The results showed the ability of saccharified OPMF to support the growth of probiotic L. rhamnosus GR-1.

Highlights

The World Health Organization defines a probiotic as ‘‘live microorganisms that when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host when ingested” (Williams and Hekmat, 2017; White and Hekmat, 2018)
Further increase of saccharification time from 3 to 6 hrs did not show any significant change in the growth of L. rhamnosus GR-1
The significant increase in growth of L. rhamnosus GR-1 (p

Summary

Introduction

The World Health Organization defines a probiotic as ‘‘live microorganisms that when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host when ingested” (Williams and Hekmat, 2017; White and Hekmat, 2018). Cellulose from oil palm mesocarp fibre (OPMF) possibly can be depolymerised using enzymes to produce oligosaccharides through saccharification. About 80 million tonnes of oil palm biomass was produced in Malaysia in 2017. OPMF, known as palm pressed fibre (PPF), is the biomass residue obtained after pressing the palm fruits for palm oil extraction (Nordin et al, 2013). It is a potential source of biomass that can be utilised for the production of valuable compounds (Pasma, Rusli and Maskat, 2019). In order for the saccharified OPMF to function as a prebiotic, it has to be shown to be able to support the growth of probiotic microorganisms

Methods

Results

Conclusion