Review on Vitamin Producing and Probiotic Properties of Lactobacillus, Derived from Tribal Fermented Foods

Abstract

Though almost all natural food sources contain vitamins, vitamin deficiencies are still prevalent in the World. In India, both macro and micronutrient deficiency diseases are very common due to low consumption of nutritional foods, consumption of foods with low nutritive value, improper cooking methods, poor socio-economic conditions etc. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are the best choice after food stuffs to reduce the burden of nutrient deficiency diseases. Recently lactic acid bacteria have been hugely used in the food industry for fermentation due to its numerous functions and health benefits. Fermentation with probiotic lactic acid bacteria not only enhances the nutritive value and digestibility of the foods but also enhances vitamin concentration due to their vitamin producing capability. Certain strains of lactic acid bacteria can synthesize B-group vitamins such as folate, cobalamine, riboflavin etc. This review listed current papers showing the probiotic and vitamin-producing properties of tribal fermented foods derived from Lactic acid bacteria including Lactobacillus. This review expects that the probiotic vitamin producing Lactobacillus strains can be used as a starter culture for the fermentation process to prepare indigenous fermented foods and helps in preventing clinical and subclinical vitamin deficiencies among tribal community.