Short Fractions of Oligofructose Are Preferentially Metabolized by Bifidobacterium animalis DN-173 010

Abstract

The growth of Bifidobacterium animalis DN-173 010 on different energy sources was studied through smalland large-scale fermentations. Growth on both more common energy sources (glucose, fructose, galactose, lactose, and sucrose) and inulin-type fructans was examined. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis was used to investigate the kinetics. Gas chromatography was used to determine the fructan degradation during the fermentation process. B. animalis DN-173 010 was unable to grow on a medium containing glucose as the sole energy source. In general, monosaccharides were poor growth substrates for the B. animalis strain. The fermentations with the inulin-type fructans resulted in changes in both growth and metabolite production due to the preferential metabolism of certain fructans, especially the short-chain oligomers. Only after depletion of the shorter chains were the larger fractions also metabolized, although to a lesser extent. Acetic acid was the major metabolite produced during all fermentation experiments. At the beginning of the fermentation, high levels of lactic acid were produced, which were partially replaced by formic acid at later stages. This suggests a shift in sugar metabolism to gain additional ATP that is necessary for growth on oligofructose, which is metabolized more slowly.

Multi-Loci Gene Sequencing and Identification of Bifidobacteria Strains Isolated from Dairy and Pharmaceutical Sources in South Africa

“…Some of the foregoing reported taxonomic and phylogenetic challenges are attributed to incorrect sequence naming and/or mislabeling, an issue that may require, as shown in this study, further investigation involving a multigenic approach. In support of the need of the foregoing suggestion, different authors (Marteau et al, 2002;Van der Meulen et al, 2004;Collado et al, 2006;Mayer et al, 2007;Tabbers et al, 2009) found more variation in labelling and/or nomenclature of the same strains. However, over the four months period of product sampling in this study, the identity of isolates remained the same.…”

Effect of acquired resistance to bile salts on enzymatic activities involved in the utilisation of carbohydrates by bifidobacteria. An overview

“…There has been considerable research in the last few years on the use of different oligosaccharides by bifidobacteria, fructooligosaccharides and galacto-oligosaccharides being the most studied [12,24,30,31,38]. Short oligosaccharides are in general better substrates for growth than monosaccharides or polysaccharides [7,15,17,18,31,38,39].…”

“…Short oligosaccharides are in general better substrates for growth than monosaccharides or polysaccharides [7,15,17,18,31,38,39]. The ability to degrade these molecules has been related to the presence in the cell of the corresponding glycoside-hydrolysing activities [12,17,21,29,39].…”

“…The ability to degrade these molecules has been related to the presence in the cell of the corresponding glycoside-hydrolysing activities [12,17,21,29,39]. The current knowledge of the metabolism of fructo-and galacto-oligosaccharides in bifidobacteria and lactobacilli suggests that the oligosaccharides are probably first transported into the cell and these molecules induce the enzymes necessary for hydrolysis and subsequent metabolism of monomers [12,17,29,38].…”

“…The major organic acids produced by bifidobacteria are acetic and lactic acids (theoretical acetic to lactic molar ratio of 1.5 when grown on glucose) and lower amounts of formic acid and ethanol can also be formed during fermentation. In spite of the need for more and deeper studies on kinetics of bifidobacteria grown on different carbohydrates, the results obtained by Perrin et al [31] and van der Meulen et al [38] suggest that for a particular microorganism, slower growth results in the production of larger amounts of organic acids. Generally, more lactic acid is produced by a given strain in the early stages of fermentation, and this production decreases later [21,38], whereas old cultures produce more formic acid at the expense of lactic acid formation [29,38].…”