Prebiotic effect of commercial saccharides on probiotic bacteria isolated from commercial products

Ivonne Figueroa-González,Mariano García-Garibay,Alma Cruz-Guerrero,Gabriela Rodríguez-Serrano,Lorena Gómez-Ruiz

doi:10.1590/fst.07318

Ivonne Figueroa-González, Mariano García-Garibay + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/fst.07318

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Abstract

Abstract This study deals with the ability of probiotic bacteria to ferment prebiotics in vitro to estimate the prebiotic activity score and prebiotic index based on specific substrates and strains. Five probiotic bacteria were isolated from commercial products and their fermentation capability of three commercial prebiotics was assessed. Growth kinetics of probiotics showed that all of them were able to use the prebiotics as carbon sources. Mostly bacteria grew faster on Frutafit and Oligomate 55 than on lactulose. The prebiotic activity score and prebiotic index concepts were introduced to evaluate the performance of every probiotic with each prebiotic; accordingly, the highest values were for L. rhamnosus on Oligomate 55, while the worst according to these parameters was L. casei Shirota on Frutafit. Prebiotic index and prebiotic activity score describe well the selective growth of probiotics supported by prebiotics; therefore, they could be useful tools to define adequate combinations in colonic foods development.

Highlights

Prebiotics are non-digestible dietary supplements, which selectively stimulate growth and/or activity of one or a group of beneficial bacteria in the colon, thereby improving the health of the host (Patel & Goyal, 2011)
Some strains of probiotics are added to yogurt and other fermented dairy foods; in some cases, prebiotics are added, which may be metabolized by the probiotics in the intestinal tract; this combination of probiotic and prebiotic may lead to an improvement of the gut microbiota
According to the cluster analysis made by Watson et al (2012) the strain L. johnsonii LA1 is between the strains of L. casei and L. paracasei, which explains the difference in the identity of the strain reported by the manufacturer as L. johnsonii

Summary

Introduction

Prebiotics are non-digestible dietary supplements, which selectively stimulate growth and/or activity of one or a group of beneficial bacteria in the colon, thereby improving the health of the host (Patel & Goyal, 2011). Prebiotics have become important commodities for the industry of functional foods as a part of the called “colonic foods” which can improve health through the colonic microbiota (Roberfroid et al, 2010). The general structure for GOS is: α-D-Glu-(1-4)-[β-D-Gal-1-6-]n where n is from 2 to 5. Lactulose is the disaccharide with the structure: β-D-Gal-D-(1-4) D-Fru (Crittenden & Playne, 1996). Some strains of probiotics are added to yogurt and other fermented dairy foods; in some cases, prebiotics are added, which may be metabolized by the probiotics in the intestinal tract; this combination of probiotic and prebiotic (synbiotic) may lead to an improvement of the gut microbiota. The resulting enrichment of gut microbiota may lead to an antagonistic effect against harmful intestinal bacteria improving host health in several ways (Wang & Gibson, 1993)

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