In vitro prebiotic assessment of pectin, inulin and fructooligosaccharide on probiotic lactic acid bacteria

Abstract:

The present study selected two lactic bacteria: Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-5 and Lactobacillus helveticus NDM13. The prebiotic potential of pectin, inulin and fructooligosaccharides (FOS) was evaluated. The growth characteristics were analyzed in terms of optical density (OD), viable cell count, prebiotic index (PI), growth rate and generation time. The results revealed that pectin showed the highest prebiotic index (>1) compared to inulin and FOS. The Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-5 strain exhibited a higher growth rate and a shorter generation time in the presence of pectin. Furthermore, among the different pectin types tested, high methoxyl pectin with a degree of esterification of 67.56% showed the best performance in stimulating probiotic growth. These findings suggest that pectin can be considered as a promising prebiotic ingredient for the development of synbiotic functional foods.