Lycopene is a non-provitamin A carotenoid that is responsible for the red to pink colors seen in tomatoes, pink grapefruit, and other foods. Processed tomato products are the primary dietary lycopene source in the United States. Unlike many other natural compounds, lycopene is generally stable to processing when present in the plant tissue matrix. Recently, lycopene has also been studied in relation to its potential health effects. Although promising data from epidemiological, as well as cell culture and animal, studies suggest that lycopene and the consumption of lycopene containing foods may affect cancer or cardiovascular disease risk, more clinical trial data is needed to support this hypothesis. In addition, future studies are required to understand the mechanism(s) whereby lycopene or its metabolites are proven to possess biological activity in humans.

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Green tea and probiotic bacteria have been reported to have beneficial health effects individually. The purpose of this study was to determine if green tea (GT) or epigallocatechin‐3‐gallate (EGCG), the main flavonoid component of GT, would stimulate the growth rate and increase the cell density in planktonic cultures of the probiotic bacterial strains Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM (L. acid.) and Lactobacillus gasseri ATCC 33323 (L. gas.). Aqueous GT and EGCG extracts were prepared and matched for total phenol content. Growth rate was determined using a 96‐well microtiter plate assay. Cell density was assessed via optical density at 600nm. GT (1, 2, 10, 20, 30 and 40%) and EGCG (1, 2 and 10%) enhanced the maximum specific growth rate (MSGR) of L. acid. vs. the control. GT (4, 10, 20, 30, and 40%) and EGCG (1, 2, 4, 10, and 20%) also enhanced the MSGR of L. gas. relative to the control. GT (10 and 30%) and EGCG (1% only) increased the cell density of both L. acid. and L. gas. relative to the control. In summary, in preliminary results, GT and EGCG increased the growth rate and final cell densities of both L. acid. and L. gas., suggesting that combinations of probiotic cultures with tea components may promote survival, growth or activity in the gastrointestinal tract. This project was supported by North Carolina State University, the NC Dairy Foundation, and the Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center.

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