This paper examines the impact of inulin, Lactobacillus spp. (candidate probiotics), and synbiotic (inulin + Lactobacillus spp.) preparation on oxalate degrading activity and viability of Escherichia coli. In this study, the lowest viability of E. coli was recorded for the synbiotic treatments of Lactobacillus fermentum BP5 (59%) and IP5 (60%). The oxalate degrading activity of L. fermentum IP5 was 38.18 and 29.60% higher than the other strains after growth in 10 mM and 20 mM MRS-ox plus 5% inulin media, respectively. The mixture of three strains demonstrated higher oxalate degrading capacity than the individual strains and showed the same good growth rates (9.43 CFU mL À1 ) as individuals. The study concludes that the addition of prebiotics has a significant effect on probiotics; therefore, a combination of L. fermentum IP5 with inulin could be a viable probiotic-based functional food approach in administering oxalate metabolism and also treatment of E. coli-related infections. Effect of prebiotic on oxalate degradation D. € Onal Darilmaz et al. the MRS-ox plus 5% inulin were found significant (P < 0.05). b Control: MRS broth (pH 6.8) without inulin and E. coli ATCC 11105. c Refrence strains. d Mixed culture: Mixed culture consist of MP1, IP5 and YG7 strains. Effect of prebiotic on oxalate degradation D. € Onal Darilmaz et al. 125 a Values are means AE standard deviations from experimenst done in triplicate. Differences in MRS-ox and MRS-ox plus 5% inulin for degrading activity were found to be significant (P < 0.05). b Control: MRS (pH 6.8) (Without sodium oxalate and inulin). c Refrence strains. d Mixed culture: Mixed culture consist of MP1, IP5 and YG7 strains. Effect of prebiotic on oxalate degradation D. € Onal Darilmaz et al. to be significant (P < 0.05). b Control: MRS (pH 6.8) (Without sodium oxalate and inulin). c Refrence strains. d Mixed culture: Mixed culture consist of MP1, IP5 and YG7 strains. Effect of prebiotic on oxalate degradation D. € Onal Darilmaz et al. Effect of prebiotic on oxalate degradation D. € Onal Darilmaz et al.

Autoaggregation, cell surface hydrophobicity, and coaggregation abilities with E. coli of the selected dairy propionibacteria strains could be used as probiotic in foods after in vivo studies.

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This study aimed to assess the transit tolerance of potential probiotic dairy

Propionic acid bacteria have been used widely as starter cultures. However, their potential as probiotics has received little attention. The ability to auto- and coaggregate is a desirable property for probiotics in health-promoting foods. Therefore, in the current study, we assessed the effect of exopolysaccharides produced by dairy propionibacteria strains on the aggregative and hydrophobicity properties. All propionibacteria strains tested showed auto- and coaggregation ability with Escherichia coli ATCC 11229, but the results were strain specific and dependent on exopolysaccharides production and incubation conditions. In addition, propionibacteria strains tested were determined to be highly hydrophilic. Our results indicate that the ability to autoaggregate, together with cell-surface hydrophobicity and coaggregation abilities with an E. coli strain, can be used for preliminary screening in order to identify potentially probiotic bacteria suitable for human or animal use.

This study was designed to examine the in vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the methanol, ethanol, water, n-hexane and dicholoromethane extracts of two Allium species (Allium scabriflorum and Allium tchihatschewii) which are endemic for the flora of Turkey. The antimicrobial efficiency of the plant was evaluated according to disc diffusion and microdilution broth methods. The antimicrobial test results showed that the extracts of A. scabriflorum and A. tchihatschewii showed varying degrees of antimicrobial activity on the tested microorganisms. The extracts were screened for their possible antioxidant activities by three complementary tests; DPPH free radical-scavenging, scavenging of hydrogen peroxide and metal chelating activity assays. All the extracts of A. scabriflorum and A. tchihatschewii exhibited lower DPPH free radical scavenging activity but higher metal chelating activity when compared to standards. The values of scavenging of hydrogen peroxide of the extracts were higher than the standards that of α-tocopherol, BHA, BHT and trolox, but close to that of ascorbic acid. In addition to the antioxidant activity of these plants, the total phenolic compounds and flavonoids were also measured in the extracts. The results presented here may suggest that the extracts of A. scabriflorum and A. tchihatschewii possess antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, and therefore, they can be used as a natural preservative ingredient in food and/or pharmaceutical industry.Key words: Allium scabriflorum, Allium tchihatschewii, antimicrobial activity, antioxidant activity, phenolic IntroductionThe spoilage and poisoning of foods by microorganisms are problems that have not yet been brought under adequate control despite the range of robust preservation techniques available. Raw and/or processed foods are open to contamination during the production, sale and distribution of them (Deak and Beuchat, 1996). Thus, at present, it is a necessity to use the chemical preservatives to prevent the growth of food spoiling microbes in the food industry (Sağdıç and Özcan, 2003). Consumers are increasingly avoiding foods prepared with preservatives of chemical origin, and natural alternatives are therefore needed to achieve sufficiently long shelf life of foods and a high degree of safety with respect to foodborne pathogenic microorganisms (Rauha et al., 2000).Synthetic antioxidants and antimicrobials in use have been shown to have harmful side effects (Gao et al., 1999;Williams et al., 1999;Osawa and Namiki, 1981), therefore, there is a need for more effective, less toxic and cost effective antioxidants and antimicrobials from natural sources. Recently, there are a lot of reports on the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of plant-based extract, which has a potential application both in the food and in medicinal industries (Zeng et al., 2011).Since ancient times, several species of the genus Allium have been used as foods, spices or herbal remedies. The genus Allium L. is a member of the family Liliaceae a...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effects of exopolysaccharide (EPS) production on resistance to gastrointestinal digestive conditions and oxalate by probiotic strains of the species Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus brevis. The oxalate‐degrading ability of the strains was determined using an enzymatic assay. The correlation between oxalate degradation rate and EPS production was not significant (P > 0.05); however, the high‐EPS‐producing L. fermentumIP5 and L. brevisYG7 strains showed high oxalate‐degrading activity, whereas the low‐EPS‐producing strain L. fermentumBP5 demonstrated low oxalate‐degrading activity. The present findings suggest that dietary supplementation with the probiotic strain L. fermentumIP5 could be a promising strategy for the prevention of oxalate stone disease.

In this study, a total of 32 isolated strains and 5 reference strains of dairy propionibacteria were analyzed for acid and exopolysaccharide (EPS) production in skim milk and yeast extract–lactate broth (YEL) media in order to investigate the physiological background and preservative role of acid and EPS. The effects of final culture pH and optical density on acid and EPS production were also determined. On average, all strains produced more acid and reached lower final pH values in skim milk than in YEL medium. While the correlations obtained between the acid produced by propionibacterium strains and their final culture pH in skim milk medium were significant (P &lt; 0.01), no correlations were found between optical density, final pH, and produced acid in YEL medium. Sixteen isolated and five reference strains of propionibacteria were tested further for the ability to produce propionic and acetic acids. On average, Propionibacterium freudenreichii subsp. shermanii and P. freudenreichii subsp. freudenreichii strains produced higher amounts of propionic and acetic acids than did Propionibacterium jensenii in YEL medium. The acid produced by these strains may be used as a preservative in the food industry for replacement or reduction of the increasing use of chemical additives. The EPS production by propionibacterium strains during growth in YEL medium was 72 to 168 mg/liter, while in skim milk it was 94 to 359 mg/liter. The monomer compositions of the EPSs formed by the six selected dairy propionibacteria strains were analyzed. The EPSs may have applications as food grade additives and viscosity-stabilizing agents.