FUNCTIONAL AND PROBIOTIC POTENTIAL OF INDIGENOUS BACILLUS COAGULANS AND BACILLUS PUMILUS STRAINS

LOPAMUDRA HALDAR¹*, D.N. GANDHI², DEBASIS MAZUMDAR^3
1Faculty of Science and Technology, ICFAI University, Tripura, Kamalghat, Tripura- 799210, India
²Dairy Microbiology Division, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal- 132001, Haryana, India
³Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, Cooch Behar- 736165, West Bengal, India
* Corresponding Author : mohor7@gmail.com

Received : 01-03-2016     Accepted : 08-03-2016     Published : 28-03-2016
Volume : 8     Issue : 3       Pages : 731 - 736
Int J Microbiol Res 8.3 (2016):731-736

Keywords : Probiotics, Bacillus coagulans, Bacillus pumilus, acid salt tolerance, bile salt tolerance, cell surface hydrophobicity, antibacterial activity, -galactosidase activity, hypocholesterolemic activity.
Academic Editor : V. Krishnasree, Spiros Paramithiotis, Dr Carsten Muller, Laura Cammarisano, A Hernandez, Natteewan Udomsil
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : The authors acknowledge the financial assistance and necessary supports provided by the Director, NDRI, Karnal, Haryana, India. Dr. Rameshwar Singh, Project Director, ICAR-Directorate of Knowledge Management in Agriculture, Pusa, New Delhi, India for his constant help and suggestions during the investigation at Dairy Microbiology Division, NDRI, Karnal, Haryana, India
Author Contribution : None declared

The spore forming Bacillus species have created enormous interest as probiotics in the recent years, because of it’s most important character of thermo-stability that assures its viability in the finished product. Thus, we aimed to explore functional and probiotic properties of indigenous Bacillus coagulans (n= 32), Bacillus pumilus (n= 2) and Bacillus subtilis (n= 2) strains. Intrinsic functional properties like acid and bile salt tolerance, cell surface hydrophobicity and rate of acid production for survival and action in the gut were investigated in-vitro for thirty six isolates. Further, we screened the best ten Bacillus strains and studied extensively for their different probiotic attributes and made a comparative account. Based on the relative probiotic performances, Bacillus coagulans B37 and Bacillus pumilus B9 (both isolated from buffalo milk) were appeared to be well adapted to the gastro intestinal environment and found to deliver good probiotic attributes, especially for antibacterial, hypocholesterolemic and -galactosidase enzyme activities. Though majority of Bacillus species still claims better niche and requires Generally Recognized as Safe (GARG) status, these two new indigenous strains, B. coagulans B37 and B. pumilus B9 might be potential for probiotic use after proper clinical studies and safety assessment in animals and human.