Synbiotics are well accepted for their nutraceutical value and also in therapeutics for lifestyle disorders like diabetes, cardiovascular, neurological diseases and PCOS. Current manuscript presents the study of prebiotic potential of Pectin isolated from Nagpuri orange on the strains of probiotic bacteria like L. acidophilus, L. plantarum, B. bifidum, and B. lactis. In vitro and in vivo evaluation shows a significant increase in the L. acidophilus colonies as 2.12 ± 0.04 cfu/g followed by L. plantarum as 1.38 ± 0.03 cfu/g, B. lactis as 0.68 ± 0.04 cfu/g and B. bifidum as 0.48 ± 0.05 cfu/g using a modified MRS media. The highest cfu/g complemented the declined pH of cultured media to 6.05 ± 1.32 from near neutral pH. In vivo study using Sprague Dawley rats presented enhanced fecal colony count for L. acidophilus as 8.92 ± 0.04 cfu/g along with confirmation for microscopical characteristics of Gram-positive, rod-shaped, non-motile, non-sporulating bacteria showing catalase-negative, carbohydrate fermentation, lactic acid production, and positive arginine hydrolysis test. All blends of probiotic strains with Pectin as prebiotic material shown significant increase of biomass as compared to single probiotic administration. All results suggest the co-administration of Pectin with the L. acidophilus L. plantarum, B. bifidum, and B. lactis probiotic strains enhances in vitro and in vivo viability of these bacteria. More thorough quantitative analysis of the extract for in vivo parameters can help utilising it in the nutraceutical formulations as a prebiotic compound or as a synbiotic composition along with selected probiotic strains.
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