Antimicrobial activity of selected synbiotics targeted for the elderly against pathogenic Escherichia coli strains |
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| Authors: | E Likotrafiti K M Tuohy G R Gibson R A Rastall |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Food Technology, Laboratory of Food Microbiology, A.T.E.I. of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece;2. Department of Food Quality and Nutrition, Research and Innovation Centre – Fondazione Edmund Mach, S. Michele (TN), Italy;3. Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK |
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| Abstract: | The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of two synbiotic combinations, Lactobacillus fermentum with short-chain fructooligosaccharides (FOS-LF) and Bifidobacterium longum with isomaltooligosaccharides (IMO-BL), against enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 and enteropathogenic E. coli O86. Antimicrobial activity was determined (1) by co-culturing the synbiotics and pathogens in batch cultures, and (2) with the three-stage continuous culture system (gut model), inoculated with faecal slurry from an elderly donor. In the co-culture experiments, IMO-BL was significantly inhibitory to both E. coli strains, while FOS-LF was slightly inhibitory or not inhibitory. Factors other than acid production appeared to play a role in the inhibition. In the gut models, both synbiotics effectively inhibited E. coli O157 in the first vessel, but not in vessels 2 and 3. E. coli O86 was not significantly inhibited. |
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| Keywords: | Bifidobacterium gut model Lactobacillus |
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