Abstract
Lycium barbarum is a boxthorn that produces the goji berries. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the proliferative effect of L. barbarum polysaccharides (LBP) on probiotics. LBP was extracted from goji berries and its monosaccharide composition characterized by gas chromatography (GC). The LBP extract contained arabinose, rhamnose, xylose, mannose, galactose, and glucose. LBP obviously promoted the proliferation of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains, especially Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis Bi-26 and Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM. In the presence of LBP in the growth medium, the β-galactosidase (β-GAL) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities of strain Bi-26 significantly increased. The activities of β-GAL, LDH, hexokinase (HK), 6-phosphofructokinase (PFK), and pyruvate kinase (PK) of strain NCFM significantly increased under those conditions. LAB transcriptome sequencing analysis was performed to elucidate the mechanism responsible for the proliferative effect of LBP. The data revealed that LBP promoted the bacterial biosynthetic and metabolic processes, gene expression, transcription, and transmembrane transport. Pyruvate metabolism, carbon metabolism, phosphotransferase system (PTS), and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis genes were overexpressed. Furthermore, LBP improved cell vitality during freeze-drying and tolerance of the gastrointestinal environment. In summary, LBP can be used as a potential prebiotic for Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus.
Highlights
Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are important probiotics
As determined by the gas chromatography (GC) analysis (Figure 1), L. barbarum polysaccharides (LBP) was composed of arabinose, rhamnose, xylose, mannose, galactose, and glucose, at molar ratios of 0.18:0.81:0.07:2.17:0.23:6.52
LBP improved the growth of all tested Bifidobacterium strains except for strain Bi-04
Summary
Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are important probiotics Their beneficial effect on the host health has been widely recognized (Steinkraus, 2002). Because of their metabolic activities and fermentation products, LAB exert many physiological functions, e.g., immunostimulation, improved digestion and absorption, vitamin synthesis, inhibition of the growth of potential pathogens, cholesterol reduction, and reduction of gas distension (Wallace et al, 2011; Pandey et al, 2015). Prebiotics are usually non-digestible substances that exert positive effects on probiotic proliferation and host health They are mainly oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, protein hydrolyzates, short-chain fatty acids, and plant and herb extracts (Wang et al, 2015). Supplementation of the growth medium with prebiotics is an effective way of promoting the proliferation of LAB and improving their viability under challenging conditions
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