Evaluation of functional aspects of Lactobacillus fermentum CFR 2195 isolated from breast fed healthy infants' fecal matter

Functional properties of the Lactobacillus fermentum CFR 2195, isolated from healthy infant feces have been evaluated. The adherence of L. fermentum to HT-29 and Caco-2 cell-lines were found to be 197.66 +/- 15.62 and 100.33 +/- 15.69 per 100 cells, respectively. The effect of different concentrations of FOS (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5%) on the growth rate of L. fermentum was checked and 2.0% FOS was selected for further studies. The synbiotic preparation containing L. fermentum and FOS exhibited significant antimicrobial activity against a few tested common food borne pathogens. The proteolytic activity of the L. fermentum was significant and the total amino acid content in milk fermented with L. fermentum was 555 mg/l. In addition, it was found to produce 29.45 ng vitamin B-12/g dry biomass in submerged fermentation (96 h) with successive anaerobic and aerobic phases of 48 h.