Capability of Lactobacillus reuteri to Produce an Active Form of Vitamin B12 under Optimized Fermentation Conditions

There has been considerable debate on the ability of Lactobacillus reuteri to produce the active form of vitamin B12. In this study, we demonstrated the ability of two wild type strains of Lactobacillus reuteri to produce α-(5,6-dimethylbenzimidazolyl)-cobamidcyanide or cyanocobalamin which are the active form of vitamin B12. This was possible by supplying the required compounds of vitamin B12, δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole (DMB) under the appropriate conditions for bacteria to induce and complete the formation of vitamin B12 with DMB as the lower (Coα) ligand. It was remarkable to find a microorganism possessing probiotic properties along with the capability to produce an active vitamin B12. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with mass spectrometry were used to identify vitamin B12 forms and confirm our results.