Soybean-based Functional Food WIT a Vitamin B12-Producing Lactic Acid Bacteria

FONT DE VALDEZ, G.; VERÓNICA MOLINA; MARÍA P. TARANTO; MARTA MÉDICI; FERNANDO SESMA

Bologna, Italia

Simposio; The 20th International ICFMH Symposium food safety and food biotechnology: diversity and global impact; 2006

International Committee on Food Microbiology and Hygiene

Animals do not synthesize vitamin B12 (B12; deoxyadenosyl- or methyl-colbalamin), an important cofactor that is required for folic acid regeneration, the metabolism of thymine, valine, methyonine and for the impaired-chain fatty acids. Humans must incorporate the vitamin from the diet or pharmaceutical products intake. The B12-deficiency may induce specific and clinical symptoms (neurological alterations) and also unspecific ones such as anemia, weight-loss, amenorrhea, loss of appetite, etc. This deficiency may be due to strict vegetarian diets, malnutrition, physiological states related to pregnancy and old age, congenital loss of the stomach intrinsic factor, etc. The aim of this study was to develop a fermented probiotic beberage from soy-water extract (soy milk) by using Lactobacillus reuteri CRL 1098 -a cobalamin producer lactobacilli- and to evaluate its efficiency in an experimental B12-deficient murine model. Clinical and hematological (reticulocites [R] index) parameters were evaluated in different BALB/c mice groups fed with a commercial diet without B12. Pregnant females were fed the deficient diet until the end of weaning and their respective weanings (21 days-old) were selected to evaluate the efficiency of L. reuteri CRL 1098 in reverting the B12-deficiency. The weaning mice treated with the probiotic fermented soy milk showed a significant (p<0.005) increase (40%) in the R index and optimum growth parameters respect to those fed unfermented soy milk. Lactobacilli producing B12 is an interesting biotechnological approach for obtaining functional soybean-based foods.