Examination of Some Locally Fermented Foods for Probiotics Bacillus Coagulans
Chapter One
AIM
This study aimed to examine some locally fermented foods for the occurrence of the probiotics Bacillus coagulans. Such foods can be used as a source and also a route for the administration of probiotics to consumers.
OBJECTIVES
- To isolate and identify Bacillus coagulans from locally fermented foods.
- To determine the probiotic characteristics of Bacillus coagulans isolated from locally fermented food.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Probiotic Organisms
Probiotics are one of the functional foods that link diet and health. Probiotics “For Life” are living, health-promoting microbial food ingredients that have a beneficial effect on humans (Chuayana et al., 2003). Probiotic bacteria actions include: adherence and colonization of the host gut (Sanders, 2003), suppression of growth and invasion by pathogenic bacteria (Reid and Burton, 2002), production of antimicrobial substances such as bacteriocins (Nowroozi et al., 2004), improvement of intestinal barrier function, and stimulation of host immunity (Tannock, 2003). Evidence from in vitro systems, animal models and humans suggests that the therapeutic use of probiotics has been considered very successful in the cases of lactose intolerance (Suvarna and Boby, 2005), inflammatory bowel disease (Daniel et al., 2006), colon cancer, Helicobacter pylori infection (Ouwehand et al., 2002), reduction of allergy, irritable bowel syndrome (Ljungh and Wadström, 2006), and certain diarrheal disease including antibiotic-associated diarrhea in adults, travelers’ diarrhea, and diarrheal diseases in young children (Reyed, 2007). Additionally, probiotics may improve intestinal mobility and relieve constipation, especially in seniors (Ouwehand et al., 2002; Crittenden et al., 2005). They also reduce the cholesterol levels in serum (Liong and Shah, 2005) and no doubt many other benefits are there to be found by deligent research efforts. Nowadays, probiotics are available in a variety of food products, dietary supplements (Parvez et al., 2006) and drugs (Sanders, 2003). In the United States, food products containing probiotics are almost exclusively dairy products – fluid milk and yoghurt- due to the historical association of lactic acid bacteria with fermented milk (Schillinger, 1999).
The most frequently used bacteria in these products include Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium (Sanders, 2003). Probiotics are commonly not long-term colonizers of the gastrointestinal tract, although they can adhere temporarily to the epithelium (Bezkorovainy, 2001). Instead, they may divide very slowly in the intestine, while remaining metabolically active (Marco et al., 2006). Therefore, daily consumption of these bacteria is probably the best way to maintain their effectiveness (Champs et al., 2003). Among the most studied bacteria as a probiotic included mainly isolates of the genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. Other bacteria of less potential as probiotics are isolates of the genus Bacillus such as Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus clausii, Bacillus pumilus and Bacillus coagulans (Hong et al., 2005; Patel et al., 2009). Reports claiming that probiotics use strengthened immune system, and helped in combating allergies, excessive alcohol intake and other diseases (Nichols, 2007; Sanders, 2003) encouraged researchers to search for novel probiotic bacteria in traditionally fermented foods which is usually linked to good health of people who consume such foods regularly (Salminen et al., 1998).
Bioprospecting for probiotics in traditional fermented foods
The majority of infectious diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria and fungi represent a real challenge for current efforts to combat it through chemical and pharmacological research (Sanders et al., 2003). Rapid emergence of antibiotic resistance by many pathogens, along with increased toxicity of in field antibiotics prompts the continuous search and development of new antiinfective and antipathogenic materials (Sleator and Hill, 2006). Antipathogenic and probiotic bacteria would be the corner-stone in the search for new and effective alternative to traditional prophylactic means in a variety of clinical cases and settings (Sleator and Hill, 2008). In the last decade, it was observed that the selection of probiotics is based mainly on their ability to adhere and colonize the gastrointestinal epithelia and to compete with pathogens for binding sites and nutrients (Collado et al., 2007a; Ouwehand and Salminen, 2003). The functional activity of probiotics have been associated with managing the diarrheal and gastrointestinal infections by probiotics strains of different species of lactics isolated mainly from fermented dairy products and related sources available in the western hemisphere (D’Souza et al., 2002). In addition, there is ample evidence suggesting the use of probiotics to treat and prevent urinary tract infection (Velraeds et al., 1998), rotavirus diarrhea (Szajewska et al., 2001), recurrence of certain cancers (Ohashi et al., 2002)), and reduction of allergies (Gill and Guarner, 2004) and recently, probiotic prophylaxis against asthma and eczema is being entertained (Sleator and Hill, 2008). Most research articles pertaining to the aforementioned observations were dependent upon bacterial probiotics originating mainly from fermented dairy products and to less extent from human body indigenous microflora such as vaginal isolates or infants faeces (Reid, 2005). While the probiotic market is growing rapidly, it becomes eminent to diversify our sources in the search for new and novel probiotic microorganisms. This trend is encouraged by remarks stating that using different strains from different sources present interesting situations since differences between strains of the same species do exist (Reid, 2005; Weizman et al., 2005).
CHAPTER THREE
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Materials
The materials used in this study includes: Locally fermented food which are Ugba also known as ukpaka, Akamu(Ogi), Ogiri and Okpei. Other materials include, Petri dishes, Spatula, Swab sticks, Conical flasks, Foil, Weighing balance, Masking tape, Burnsen burner, Autoclave, 70% ethanol, Distilled water, Slides, cover slips, Cotton wool, Test tubes, Test tube rack, Bijou bottle, Normal saline, Microscope etc.
Study site
The study was conducted at the General Microbiology Laboratory Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.
Samples
The study samples includes: Ugba, Akamu, Okpei, Ogiri
Sample collection
The samples were collected from Eke Awka, ifite school gate and second market in Awka metropolis.
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS and DISCUSSION
Results
Results of the isolation of Bacillus coagulans.
Bacillus coagulans was isolated from only Ugba within 2 days of fermentation. Other samples Ogi, Okpei and Ogi did not yield Bacillus coagulans.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION
This study has shown that other than dairy products such as yoghurt which tend to be expensive, locally fermented foods like Ugba that are cost effective can be consumed because they contain the probiotics Bacillus coagulans. It is therefore recommended that locally fermented food products should be hygienically and microbiologically safe for human consumption.
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