Risk Assessment of Specific Strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus Used as "Other Substances"

The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety (Vitenskapskomiteen for mattrygghet, VKM) has, at the request of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (Mattilsynet; NFSA), assessed the risk of "other substances" in food supplements sold in Norway. These risk assessments will provide NFSA with the scientific basis for regulation of the addition of “other substances” to food supplements and other foods. "Other substances" are described in the food supplement directive 2002/46/EC as substances other than vitamins or minerals that have a nutritional and/or physiological effect. It is added mainly to food supplements, but also to other foods. VKM has not in this series of risk assessments of "other substances" evaluated any claimed beneficial effects from these substances, only possible adverse effects. The present report is a risk assessment of Lactobacillus acidophilus W37, Lactobacillus acidophilus DDS-1, Lactobacillus acidophilus La-5 and Lactobacillus acidophilus La-14 based on previous risk assessments and also publications retrieved from literature search. The risk of the Lactobacillus strains listed above was assessed for the general population. However, in previous assessments of probiotics published by VKM, concerns have been identified for specific groups. Therefore, the risk was assessed for the age group with immature gastro-intestinal microbiota (age group 0-36 months), population with mature gastro-intestinal microbiota (>3 years) and vulnerable groups with mature gastro-intestinal tract. VKM has also assessed the risk of L. acidophilus W37, L. acidophilus DDS-1, L. acidophilus La-5 and L. acidophilus La-14 in food supplements and other foods independent of the dose and have assessed exposure in general terms. VKM concludes that it is unlikely that L. acidophilus W37, L. acidophilus DDS-1, L. acidophilus La-5 and L. acidophilus La-14 would cause adverse health effects in the general healthy population with mature gastro-intestinal tract. However, no data on long-term adverse effects on infants and young children were identified. As evidence is accruing that the early microbial composition of the neonatal gut is important for the development of the gut microbiota and the immune system of the growing child, it is not possible to exclude that a daily supply of a single particular bacterial strain over a prolonged period of time to an immature gastro-intestinal tract may have long-term, although still unknown, adverse effects on that development.

Desenvolvimento e caracterização de leite acidófilo sabor manga / Development and characterization of acidophilic milk flavored milk

Este estudo teve como objetivo desenvolver e caracterizar leite acidófilo fermentado e não fermentado sabor manga. No preparo do leite acidófilo foi adicionado L. acidophilus e polpa de manga. O produto foi armazenado a 6°C, para avaliação das características microbiológicas e físico-químicas nos tempos 0, 15 e 30 dias de produção. Foram feitas análises de coliformes a 30°C e 45°C, contagem de fungos filamentosos e leveduras, e contagem de bactérias láticas. Os leites acidófilos sabor manga obtiveram uma curta vida de prateleira, entretanto, a contagem de bactérias láticas foi superior a 108 UFC/g durante todo o período de armazenamento de 30 dias a 4°C.

Probiotic potentials of Mucuna beans flour fermented with Lactobacillus acidophilus

Aims: The specific aim of this study is to investigate the probiotic potentials of mucuna beans flour fermented with Lactobacillus acidophilus. Methodology and results: The L. acidophilus used was isolated from neonate faeces using the pour plate technique, thereafter, it was screened for growth and survival in the mucuna beans flour. Liquid fermentation method was adopted for fermentation of mucuna beans flour and at the end of 72 h fermentation at 37 °C, the L. acidophilus showed appreciable growth (90 × 105 CFU/mL). After storage for 14 days at refrigeration (4 ± 2 °C) and room temperature (25 ± 2 °C), there was a considerable increase in the Lactobacillus found in the products stored at room temperature (183.67 ± 3.28 ×105 CFU/mL) compared to the one stored at refrigeration temperature (94 ± 2.33 × 105 CFU/mL). There was a steady increase in the total titratable acidity and temperature with concomitant reduction in the pH of samples during the fermentation period. The proximate analysis showed that there was an increase in the protein and moisture contents with decrease in carbohydrates, fats, fiber and ash contents of the fermented samples compared to the unfermented sample. Under varying pH range, L. acidophilus showed high growth and survival at pH 2 to 3. Supplementing the diet of albino rats infected with E. coli and Shigella with fermented products reduces significantly (p ≤ 0.05) the numbers of these pathogens and other enteric bacteria while the number of the Lactobacilli increased considerably. Furthermore, the body weight of the rats fed the fermented product was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher than the control group. Also, the haematological analysis showed that the rats infected with the pathogens and later fed the fermented mucuna beans flour recovered fully since their values are well within the permissible limit and are not significantly (p ≤ 0.05) different from the control group. In all, the rats fed the product fermented with L. acidophilus showed good recovery compared to the control. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: The results of this investigation suggest that mucuna beans flour supports the growth and survival of L. acidophilus and exerts considerable probiotic effect on young mammals. Therefore, mucuna may be used as an ideal probiotic food.

Antimicrobial activity of fractions and subfractions of Elaeagia utilis against microorganisms of importance in dental caries

La caries dental es una enfermedad infecciosa multifactorial que conduce a la destrucción del tejido duro dental. El principal objetivo de la investigación en plantas medicinales es la búsquedade compuestos con actividad antimicrobiana para su posterior uso en estrategias de prevención o control de enfermedades infecciosas. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar la actividad antimicrobiana de fracciones y subfracciones obtenidas de la planta Elaeagia utilis contra Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sobrinus y Lactobacillus acidophilus. El materialvegetal fue colectado en la ciudad de Albán (Cundinamarca-Colombia) situada a una altitud de 2245 metros sobre el nivel del mar. Mediante el método de maceración en frio de hojas de E. utilis se obtuvieron dos extractos, uno en éter de petróleo y otro en etanol. Del extracto etéreo se obtuvieron fraccionesmediante cromatografía en columna al vacío y al extracto etanólico se le realizó fraccionamiento líquido/líquido continuo. La evaluación de la actividad antimicrobiana de las fracciones ysubfracciones se realizó por el método de difusión en pozo. A una concentración de 10 mg/pozo, múltiples fracciones obtenidas de los dos extractos presentaron actividad antimicrobianasobre S. mutans, S. sobrinus y L. acidophilus. De las fracciones del extracto etanólico se destaca la fracción diclorometano, por presentar mayor actividad antimicrobiana, razón por lo cual se subfracciona y se obtienen tres subfracciones con actividad inhibitoria.La subfracción más activa fue eOH:H2O (Bp) con una concentración mínima inhibitoria de 0.1 mg/pozo sobre las 3bacterias en estudio. En esta subfracción se determinaron terpenos, sesquiterpenlactonas y compuestos fenólicos simples. En conclusión, en este estudio se presenta el potencial antimicrobiano de fracciones y subfracciones obtenidas de extractos dehojas de E. utilis contra microorganismos de importancia encaries dental.

Dental caries is a multifactorial infectious disease that leads tothe destruction of dental hard tissue. The main goal of researchinto medicinal plants is to seek compounds with antimicrobialactivity for subsequent use in prevention strategies and controlof infectious diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate theantimicrobial activity of fractions and subfractions obtainedfrom Elaeagia utilis against Streptococcus mutans, Streptococ-cus sobrinus and Lactobacillus acidophilus. The plant materialwas collected in the town of Alban (Cundinamarca, Colombia),which is located at an altitude of 2245 meters above sea level.Two extracts were obtained by cold maceration of E. utilis leavesin (a) petroleum ether extract and (b) ethanol extract. Fractionswere obtained from the petroleum ether extract by column vacu-um chromatography, and from the ethanol extract by continuousliquid / liquid partitioning. The antimicrobial activity of frac-tions and subfractions was evaluated by the well diffusionmethod. At a concentration of 10 mg /well, several fractions fromboth extracts showed antimicrobial activity against S. mutans, S.sobrinus and L. acidophilus. Among the ethanol extract frac-tions, the dichloromethane fraction had notably greaterantimicrobial activity. It was sub-partitioned, yielding three sub-fractions with inhibitory activity, of which the most active wasMeOH: H2O (Bp) with minimum inhibitory concentration 0.1mg /well on the 3 study bacteria. Terpenes, sesquiterpenlactonesand simple phenolic compounds were identified in it. In conclu-sion, this study shows the antimicrobial potential of fractionsand subfractions obtained from extracts of E. utilis leaves againstbacteria that are important in dental caries.