Journal of Probiotics & Health
Open Access
ISSN: 2329-8901
ISSN: 2329-8901
Steven Manzi
Vaal University of Technology, South Africa
Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Prob Health
Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been utilized in the food industry for several decades. They are referred to as probiotics because they confer beneficial health effects to their host including balancing the microbial flora, boosting the immune response and lowering cholesterol. Probiotic bacteria from different sources have been isolated and are commercially available. However, due to their extensive use, LAB are ought to adapt to different environmental conditions which might reduce their robustness. In this study, 28 bacterial strains isolated from spontaneous fermentation of soymilk were assessed for probiotic characteristics such as low pH resistance, bile salt resistance, antibacterial activity and hemolysis test. From the 28 organisms, 9 were selected as probiotics because they showed resistance to pH 2.5, bile salt (0.4%) and none of them had hemolytic activity. They also showed resistance to a spectrum of antibiotics, as well as inhibit the growth of pathogenic Gram positive and Gram negative microorganisms. The amplification and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene of the isolates revealed that these strains were Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides (6), Enterococcus mundtii (2) and Lactobacillus plantarum (1). In addition, 6 of these strains were able to degrade both raffinose and stachyose which are regarded as non-digestible oligosaccharides by humans. In conclusion, lactic acid bacteria of great interest can be isolated from their natural habitat and therefore serve as starter cultures in the food industry to improve organoleptic quality of soy derived products.
Email: stvnmanzi@gmail.com