In-vitro screening of compatible synbiotics and (introducing) “prophybiotics” as a tool to improve gut health

Abstract

Synbiotics have been intensively studied recently to improve gut health of humans and animals. The success of synergistic synbiotics depends on the compatibility of the prebiotic and probiotic components. Certain plant extracts possess both antimicrobial and prebiotic properties representing a potential use in combination with probiotics to improve the gut health. Here, we coined the term “prophybiotics” to describe this combined bioactivity. The current study aimed to select prebiotics that are preferred as an energy source and antimicrobial plant extracts which do not inhibit the growth, of six strains of lactic acid bacteria (LAB namely; Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, Lacticaseibacillus casei, Limosilactobacillus reuteri, Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, and Pediococcus pentosaceus) in-vitro to identify compatible combinations for potential synbiotic/prophybiotic use, respectively. Their growth kinetics were profiled in the presence of prebiotics: Inulin, Raffinose, and Saccharicterpenin with glucose, as the control, using carbohydrate free MRS broth media. Similarly, their growth kinetics in MRS broth supplemented with turmeric, green tea, and garlic extracts at varying concentrations were profiled. The results revealed the most compatible pairs of prebiotics and LAB. Turmeric and garlic had very little inhibitory effect on the growth of the LAB while green tea inhibited the growth of all LAB in a dose-dependent manner. Therefore, we conclude that turmeric and garlic have broad potential for use in prophybiotics, while the prebiotics studied here have limited use in synbiotics, with these LAB.

Prophybiotics for in-ovo stimulation; validation of effects on gut health and production of broiler chickens

“…A separate bacterial suspension was prepared by adjusting to a higher OD600 (corresponds to 7.5 × 10 6 CFU/mL cell density) as described in the preparation of injection for PB group. Similarly, in order to obtain 0.5% (w/v) garlic concentration in the final injection mixture (in which only 1/3 garlic extract is included), 0.15g of finely milled air dried garlic powder was added to 10mL of sterile distilled water, and the protocol to activate the allinase enzyme thereby producing allicin was carried out as described in Wishna-Kadawarage et.al (2023) . Both components (the bacterial suspension and garlic aqueous extract) were combined at 2:1 ratio and the mixture was gently mixed.…”

“…Similar to the combined administration of probiotics and prebiotics (synbiotics) in-ovo, it is of interest to examine the effects of the combined use of probiotics and phytobiotics in-ovo , on the gut health and production of broiler chickens, due to their promising benefits imparted individually. We have coined the term prophybiotics ( pro biotics + phy tobiotics) to describe this type of combination ( Wishna-Kadawarage et al 2023 ) that may provide a prophylaxis in the poultry gut. However, to the best of our knowledge, no previous studies examined the potential of prophybiotic ( PPB ) combinations in an in-ovo model to validate the possible beneficial effects on the gut health of chickens.…”

“…The garlic aqueous extract (0.5% w/v) with L. mesenteroides was identified as a compatible PPB pair as this concentration of garlic aqueous extract neither inhibited nor stimulated the growth of L. mesenteroides, in-vitro ( Wishna-Kadawarage et al, 2023 ) . This indicated that the antimicrobial compounds in garlic such as allicin was non inhibitory to L. mesenteroides whereas garlic fructans were not readily utilized by L. mesenteroides as an energy source.…”