Lactic acid bacteria present in the human and animal gut are introduced through fermented milk products, food and feed supplements containing viable bacteria. Lactobacillus species, such as L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus, L. lactis along with B. bifidum and Streptococcus faecium constitute an integral part of the healthy gastro‐intestinal microecology and are involved in the host metabolism. They impart nutritional and therapeutic benefits to the consumer. The vitamins and enzymes produced by the lactic acid bacteria contribute to host metabolism. The antimicrobial substances produced by these bacteria control the proliferation of undesired pathogens. They also elaborate enzymes that aid host metabolism. This is particularly true in case of lactase nonpersistent individuals. Their anticholesteremic properties assist in lowering serum cholesterol. It has been suggested that the tumor suppression trait of these microbes reduces the incidence of colon cancer.
Groups of 10 to 13 healthy volunteers were provided with 11 supplements of 2% butterfat milk (2% milk), whole milk, skim milk, yogurt, buttermilk, and sweet acidophilus milk daily for a 3-wk period. Despite increases in caloric intakes on all supplements, no significant increases were found in total, low-density, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. A significant weight gain was seen in subjects taking yogurt and acidophilus groups; these were the only two groups showing significant rises in triglyceride levels. These results in normal volunteers focus attention on the current practice of recommending only skim or 2% milk for hyperlipidemic individuals.
Both summer and winter butterfats were fractionated using a laboratory procedure which was designed to simulate a commercial fractionation process. The process is based on a slow, controlled cooling of the melted fat, a short stabilization time at the fractionation temperature, and separation of the crystals from the liquid oil by vacuum filtration using a stainless steel perforated disc. Fractionation temperatures of 29, 26, 23 and 19 C for winter butterfat and 29 and 19 C for summer butterfat were used to obtain solid and liquid fractions at each temperature. Three replications at each temperature showed good reproducibility of results. The fractions were characterized by their fatty acid and triglyceride compositions, melting and crystallization behavior, iodine value, peroxide value and melting point.
Three strains of Lactobacilus acidophilus (LA) were isolated from the feces of mature boars that were not being fed antibiotics from the Nebraska Gene Pool (NGP). All three LA isolates were screened in vitro for anticholesteremic and antimicrobial activities. One strain, LA16, caused the greatest reduction in cholesterol and inhibited both Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli the most. LA16 was used to produce 16, 18.9-liter quantities of acidophilus yogurt (AY), over a period of 8 wk, for use as a feed ingredient in diets for the NGP boars. Colony forming units (cfu), pH, protein, energy, Ca and P were consistent across all 16 batches of yogurt. All of the 18 boars were fed a high-cholesterol diet for a period of 56 d at a rate of 2.268 kg/(hd.d) to furnish 6.661 g/(hd.d) of cholesterol. Nine of the boars then were fed 1.81 kg/(hd.d) of a second diet that was supplemented with .454 kg/(hd.d) of AY. The other nine boars were fed the original diet. Cholesterol intake was the same for the two dietary treatments. Blood samples were collected weekly from the brachial-jugular region and the sera were analyzed for lipids. Acidophilus yogurt reduced serum cholesterol (P less than .01) and low density lipoproteins (P less than .08), but it had no effect on serum triglycerides (P greater than .23) or on high density lipoproteins (P greater than .11).
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