a Department of Food Quality and Safety , Institute for Postharvest Technology and Food Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center , Rishon LeZion , Israel.
b The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture , Food and Environment, Institute of Biochemistry, Food Science and Nutrition, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem , Rehovot , Israel.
Artif Cells Nanomed Biotechnol. 2018;46(sup2):974-982. doi: 10.1080/21691401.2018.1476373. Epub 2018 May 27.
Probiotics, live microbial supplements, are often incorporated into foods and beverages to provide putative health benefits. To ensure their beneficial effects, these organisms must survive processing and storage of food, its passage through the upper gastrointestinal tract (GIT), and subsequent chemical ingestion processes until they reach their target organ. However, there is considerable loss of viability of probiotic bacteria in the acidic conditions of the stomach and the high bile concentration in the small intestine. Bacillus subtilis, a spore-forming non-pathogenic bacterium, recently has gained interest in its probiotic properties; it can effectively maintain a favorable balance of microflora in the GIT. In addition, B. subtilis produces an extracellular matrix that protects it from stressful environments. We suggested that the extracellular matrix produced by B. subtilis could protect other probiotic bacteria and therefore potentially could be used as a vehicle for delivering viable probiotic cells to humans. Therefore, we developed a novel cultivation system that enables co-culturing of B. subtilis along with probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) by increasing production of the extracellular matrix by B. subtilis cells. Moreover, we showed that B. subtilis improved survivability of LAB during food preparation, storage and ingestion. Therefore, we believe that the results of our study will provide a novel technique of using a natural system for preservation and delivery of probiotics to humans.
益生菌是一种活的微生物补充剂，常被添加到食品和饮料中，以提供所谓的健康益处。为了确保它们的有益效果，这些微生物必须在食品的加工和储存、通过上胃肠道（GIT）以及随后的化学摄入过程中存活下来，直到它们到达目标器官。然而，益生菌细菌在胃酸和小肠中高浓度胆汁的酸性条件下会有相当大的存活率损失。枯草芽孢杆菌是一种形成孢子的非致病性细菌，最近因其益生菌特性而引起关注；它可以有效地维持 GIT 中微生物菌群的良好平衡。此外，枯草芽孢杆菌产生一种细胞外基质，使其免受恶劣环境的影响。我们提出，枯草芽孢杆菌产生的细胞外基质可以保护其他益生菌细菌，因此可能被用作将有活力的益生菌细胞递送给人类的载体。因此，我们开发了一种新的培养系统，通过增加枯草芽孢杆菌细胞的细胞外基质的产生，能够与益生菌乳酸菌（LAB）共培养。此外，我们表明，枯草芽孢杆菌提高了 LAB 在食品制备、储存和摄入过程中的存活率。因此，我们相信我们的研究结果将为使用天然系统来保存和向人类输送益生菌提供一种新的技术。
