Evaluation of the Potential of Propionic Acid Bacteria for Obtaining Postbiotics

Introduction. Numerous modern studies show that the products of potentially probiotic cultures, like probiotic microorganisms, can cause positive effects on the health of users. Their using is a preventive strategy for approaching human health.

Purpose. To characterize the potential of the P. shermani E2 strain for use for the production of postbiotics.

Materials and methods. The P. shermanii E2 strain was cultivated on a nutrient medium with the following composition: yeast autolysate, 40 cm3/dm3, KH2PO4, 4 g/dm3, CoCl2, 1 cm3/dm3, and hydrolyzed milk up to 1 dm3. The enzymatic activity of the strain was determined by using the API ZYM test system (BioMerieux, France). Proteolytic activity was determined by the TNBS method (2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid) and expressed in mmol/l leucine equivalents. Antioxidant activity was determined by the ORAC method. The content of organic acids was evaluated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and vitamin B12 was determined by high performance liquid chromatography with a mass spectrometric detector (HPLC-MS).

Results. The profile of the enzymatic activity of P. shermani E2, it’s proteolytic and antioxidant activity was determined, in addition, the content of organic acids and vitamin B12 in cell-free supernatants was determined. It was found that the strain has a pronounced aminopeptidase activity, high activity of acid phosphatase, α-galactosidase and β-galactosidase. However, the activities of trypsin, lipase, β-glucornidase, β-glucosidase, N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase, α-mannosidase and α-fructosidase were not observed. An increase in proteolytic and antioxidant activity during the cultivation of P. shermanii E2 was shown. An increase in proteolytic and antioxidant activity during the cultivation of P. shermanii E2 was shown. The highest values of proteolytic and antioxidant activity were reached after 72 h of cultivation P. shermanii E2. In addition, cell-free supernatants obtained after 72 hours of P. shermanii E2 cultivation showed the highest content of propionic, acetic and succinic acids – (4858.0±173) mg/dm3, (1542.0±44) mg/dm3, (338.0±11) mg/dm3, respectively, and the amount of vitamin B12 was (3.67±0.05) µg/dm3. Taking into account that the probiotic properties of the strains are associated with the formation of certain metabolites, the conducted studies allow us to conclude that the P. shermani E2 strain has a probiotic potential and the possibility of its use not only as part of starter cultures, but also in the production of postbiotics.

Conclusions. The use of postbiotic in food production as food additives will correspond to the expansion of the market for functional products, and the determination of their biological applicability will expand the field of postbiotics.

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