Naturally occurring 2-substituted (1,3)-b-D-glucan producing Lactobacillus suebicus and Pediococcus parvulus strains with potential utility in the food industry

MARÍA TERESA DUEÑAS; GAIZKA GARAI-IBABE; ANA IRASTORZA; JAVIER AREIZAGA; ELENA SIERRA FILARDI; MARÍA LAURA WERNING,; PALOMA LÓPEZ; ANGEL CORBÍ; PILAR FERNÁNDEZ DE PALENCIA

Kosice

Conferencia; INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE PROBIOTICS AND PREBIOTICS; 2010

Abstract Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and bifidobacteria are exploited industrially for functional food elaboration, and are the most commonly used probiotic microorganisms. Many of these strains produce exopolysaccharides (EPS), which are being used as biothickeners to improve the texture and stability of some dairy products. In addition, health benfits have been claimed for EPS synthesized by LAB. It was reported that the ingestion of an oat-based fermented food elaborated with the2-branched (1,3)-beta-D-glucan producer P.parvulus 2.6 resulted in a decrease of serum cholesterol levels, and increased counts of faecal Bifidobacterium spp.. Furthermore, the potencial of P.parvulus 2.6 as a probiotic strain has been proven. In this work, three 2-branched (1,3)-beta-D-glucan-producing LAB strains, isolated from Basque Country natural cider, and their EPS were characterized to assess their potential probiotic and viscosifying properties, and hence their suitability for functional food elaboration.