Abstract
Human vitamin de?ciencies still occur in many countries although most vitamins are present in a variety of foods, mainly because of malnutrition not only as a result of insuf?cient food intake but also because of unbalanced diets; this work screens some Lactic acid bacteria isolated from selected Nigerian fermented foods for vitamin (thiamine, riboflavin and niacin) production. Five lactic acid bacteria were isolated from selected Nigerian fermented foods (yoghurt, ogi, ogiri, ugba). The isolated lactic acid bacteria were identified based on cultural and biochemical characteristics. All the isolates were screened for thiamine, riboflavin and niacin production using microbiological assay. Thiamine, riboflavin and niacin produced were quantified. The five lactic acid bacteria isolated were Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus casei and Lactococcus lactis. The most frequent isolate was Lactobacillus plantarum (100%) followed by Lactobacillus caesi (75%). Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus lactis were the least isolates having (50%) occurrence each. Lactobacillus plantarum produced the highest amount of thiamine (5.8833 μg/100ml) and riboflavin (5.0400 μg/100ml) while Lactobacillus lactis had the least thiamine (5.2267 μg/100ml) and Lactobacillus caesi had the least riboflavin (4.8300 μg/100ml). Lactobacillus casei produced the highest niacin (1.6433 μg/100ml) while Lactobacillus fermentum had the least (1.2900 μg/100ml). This study reveals Lactobacillus plantarum as the most efficient thiamine and riboflavin producer while Lactobacillus casei produced the most niacin.
Highlights
It has been observed that lactic acid bacteria (LAB) is a large and heterogeneous group of Gram-positive bacteria characterized by a strictly fermentative metabolism with lactic acid as the major end product during sugar fermentation [1]
Human vitamin deficiencies still occur in many countries most vitamins are present in a variety of foods, mainly because of malnutrition as a result of insufficient food intake and because of unbalanced diets; this work screens some Lactic acid bacteria isolated from selected Nigerian fermented foods for vitamin production
This study reveals Lactobacillus plantarum as the most efficient thiamine and riboflavin producer while Lactobacillus casei produced the most niacin
Summary
It has been observed that lactic acid bacteria (LAB) is a large and heterogeneous group of Gram-positive bacteria characterized by a strictly fermentative metabolism with lactic acid as the major end product during sugar fermentation [1]. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are naturally present in a broad range of ecological niches such as foods and in the gastrointestinal and urogenital tract of animals, including humans In addition to their technological important properties in food production, several studies have shown that LAB can confer beneficial properties to their hosts, in specific members of the genus Lactobacillus, reason for which these bacteria are the most commonly used probiotic micro-organisms [7]. Besides probiotic LAB, particular strains of LAB are able to produce⁄release and/or increase specific beneficial compounds in foods These functional ingredients are most-times referred to as nutraceuticals a term that was first given by Stephen DeFelice in 1989 to describe “a food (or part of a food) that provides medical or health benefits, including the prevention and ⁄or treatment of a disease”. Indigenous lactic acid has been isolated again from selected Nigerian fermented foods and screened for its ability in synthesis of Thiamine, Riboflavin and Niacin production during fermentation
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