The use of probiotic products, especially for humans, requires an unequivocal taxonomical definition of their microbial content, in order to assign the probiotic effects to well identified and characterized microbial strains. In the absence of this, the labeling of some marketed probiotics may be misleading, both in terms of microbiological contents and possible beneficial effects. Currently, t...

This work aimed to develop a non-dairy functional beverage fermented with probiotic strains and fortified Brazilian red propolis (microencapsulated extracted). The matrix consisted of oats (75 g), sunflower seeds (175 almonds g). It was by starter co-culture composed Lactiplantibacillus plantarum CCMA 0743 Debaryomyces hansenii 176. Scanning electron microscopy analysis initially performed veri...

Bifidobacterium bifidum BGN4 is a probiotic strain that has been used as a major ingredient to produce nutraceutical products and as a dairy starter since 2000. The various bio-functional effects and potential for industrial application of B. bifidum BGN4 has been characterized and proven by in vitro (i.e., phytochemical bio-catalysis, cell adhesion and anti-carcinogenic effects on cell lines, ...

Microbial colonization is an important step in establishing pathogenic or probiotic relations to host cells and in biofilm formation on industrial or medical devices. The aim of this work was to verify the applicability of quantitative PCR (Real-Time PCR) to measure bacterial colonization of epithelial cells. Salmonella enterica and Caco-2 intestinal epithelial cell line was used as a model. To...

The scientific rationale for the use of live microbes in the prevention and treatment of infections came to lime-light most transparently at the beginning of the 20 century when Elie Metchnikoff in 1907 hypothesized that replacing or diminishing the number of ‘‘putrefactive’’ bacteria in the gut with lactic acid bacteria could normalize bowel health and prolong life. After more than half a cent...

Designing enriched probiotic supplements may have some advantages including protection of probiotic microorganism from oxidative destruction, improving enzyme activity of the gastrointestinal tract, and probably increasing half-life of micronutrient. In this study Saccharomyces cerevisiae enriched with dl-α-tocopherol was produced as an accumulator and transporter of a lipid soluble vitamin for...

Almost 20 years ago, it was shown that lactobacilli expressed properties that appeared to play a role in protecting the host from urogenital infection [1]. Since then, studies have shown that exogenously applied lactobacilli or indigenous lactobacilli, can reduce the risk of urinary tract infection (UTI) [2–4]. The investigations have focused upon the large clinical problem of lactobacilli depl...

Probiotic bacteria encounter various stresses after ingestion by the host, including exposure to the low pH in the stomach and bile in the small intestine. The probiotic microorganism Lactobacillus reuteri ATCC 55730 has previously been shown to survive in the human small intestine. To address how L. reuteri can resist bile stress, we performed microarray experiments to determine gene expressio...

The project »Methods for the Official Control of Probiotics Used as Feed Additives« has been undertaken to develop and validate methods for the selective enumeration and strain identification of six probiotic microorganism genera (enterococci, lactobacilli, bifidobacteria, pediococci, bacilli and yeast). A diversity of media has been used for the detection, isolation and enumeration of enteroco...

Candidiasis are life-threatening systemic fungal diseases, especially of gastro intestinal track, skin and mucous membranes lining various body cavities like the nostrils, the mouth, the lips, the eyelids, the ears or the genital area. Due to increasing resistance of candidiasis to existing drugs, it is very important to look for new strategies helping the treatment of such fungal diseases. One...