Influence of Medicinal Spices on the Acid Tolerance of a Health Beneficial Bacterium Streptococcus thermophilus ST-M5

Abstract

There is a great deal of public interest in the use of herbal remedies. Garlic is said to antiviral and antifungal and along with ginger; they are antibacterial and preventatives for cardiovascular diseases. Ginger is very effective against nausea and has analgesic properties. Onion reduces the risk of developing diabetes and like garlic, has anticancer properties. Streptococcus thermophilus is a lactic acid bacterium that produces lactase, which facilitates the digestion of lactose in milk, decreases the symptoms of malabsorption, and reduces the risk of antibiotic associated diarrhea. Acid tolerance is an important probiotic characteristic and it is an indication of the ability of the microorganism to withstand the acidic pH of the stomach. Freshly thawed culture was inoculated in acidified MRS broth at pH 2 and 1% v/v of freshly ex-tracted spice juice was added. Control was without spice juice. Growth was determined hourly during 2 hours of incu-bation at 37?C. Bacterial culture treated with all three spices individually showed a significant increase in counts at 0 and 1 hours of incubation when compared to control. After 2 hours of incubation, culture exposed to ginger showed no significant difference compared to control, while there were slight yet significantly lower counts for culture exposed to garlic and onion individually. Among the spices, ginger had the best overall effect. These three spices can be used with Streptococcus thermophilus enabling health benefits from both sources.

Share and Cite:

M. Sánchez-Vega and K. Aryana, "Influence of Medicinal Spices on the Acid Tolerance of a Health Beneficial Bacterium Streptococcus thermophilus ST-M5," Open Journal of Medical Microbiology, Vol. 2 No. 3, 2012, pp. 91-94. doi: 10.4236/ojmm.2012.23013.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1] R. Gupta, B. Thakur, H. B. Singh, V. D. Sharma, V. M. Katoch and S. V. S. Chauhan, “Anti-Tuberculosis Activity of Selected Medicinal Plants against Multi-Drug Resistant Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Isolates,” The Indian Journal of Medical Research, Vol. 131, No. 6, 2010, pp. 809-813.
[2] K. Rahman, “Historical Perspective on Garlic and Cardiovascular Disease,” The Journal of Nutrition, Vol. 131, No. 3, 2001, pp. 977S-979S.
[3] C. H. Kaschula, R. Hunter and M. I. Parker, “GarlicDerived Anticancer Agents: Structure and Biological Activity of Ajoene,” International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Vol. 36, No. 1, 2010, pp. 78-85.
[4] A. Keating and R. A. Chez, “Ginger Syrup as an Antiemetic in Early Pregnancy,” Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, Vol. 8, No. 5, 2002, pp. 89-91.
[5] M. H. Liang, “From America: Cookbook Medicine or Food for Thought: Practice Guidelines Development in the USA,” Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, Vol. 51, No. 11, 1992, pp. 1257-1258. doi:10.1136/ard.51.11.1257
[6] K. L. Grant and R. B. Lutz, “Alternative Therapies: Ginger,” American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, Vol. 57, No. 10, 2000, pp. 945-947.
[7] A. K. Meena, B. Singh, A. K. Yadav, U. Singh, R. Kaur, A. Sachan, Kiran, V. Gautam and B. Pal, “Review on Medicinal Properties and Bioactive Constituents of Herbal Spices Commonly Used in India,” Journal of Pharmacy Research, Vol. 3, No. 4, 2010, pp. 866-868.
[8] K. Srinivasan, “Plant Foods in the Management of Diabetes Mellitus: Spices as a Beneficial Antidiabetic Food Adjuncts,” International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, Vol. 56, No. 6, 2005, pp. 399-414. doi:10.1080/09637480500512872
[9] J. Sanderson, W. R. Mclauchlin and G. Williamson, “Quercetin Inhibits Hydrogen Peroxide-Induces Oxidation of the Rat Lens,” Free Radical Biology and Medicine, Vol. 26, No. 5-6, 1999, pp. 639-645. doi:10.1016/S0891-5849(98)00262-7
[10] T. Kaneko and N. Baba, “Protective Effect of Flavonoids on Endothelial Cells against Linoleic Acid Hydroperoxidase-Induced Toxicity,” Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry, Vol. 63, No. 2, 1999, pp. 323-328. doi:10.1271/bbb.63.323
[11] S. Kawaii, Y. Tomono, E. Katase, K. Ogawa and M. Yano, “Antiproliferative Activity of Flavonoids on Several Cancer Cell Lines,” Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry, Vol. 63, No. 5, 1999, pp. 896-899. doi:10.1271/bbb.63.896
[12] J. K. Nelson, “What Are Functional Foods?” 2010. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/functional-foods/AN02088
[13] S. Starling, “US Functional Foods Market to Grow 21 Per Cent by 2015,” 2010. http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Consumer-Trends/US-functional-foods-market-to-grow-21-per-cent-by-2015
[14] J. Sutherland, M. Miles, D. Hedderly, J. Li, S. Devoy, K. Sutton and D. Lauren, “In Vitro Effects of Food Extracts on Selected Probiotic and Pathogenic Bacteria,” International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, Vol. 60, No. 8, 2009, pp. 717-727. doi:10.3109/09637480802165650
[15] K. Beauchamp, “Yogurt Prevents Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea,” Bastyr Center for Natural Health, 2004. http://bastyrcenter.org/content/view/914
[16] P. Marteau, B. Flourie, P. Pochart, C. Chastang, J. F. Desjeaux and J. C. Rambaud, “Effect of the Microbial Lactase (EC 3.2.1.23) Activity in Yogurt on the Intestinal Absorption of Lactose: An in Vivo Study in Lactase-Deficient Humans,” The British Journal of Nutrition, Vol. 64, No. 1, 1990, pp. 71-79. doi:10.1079/BJN19900010
[17] FAO/WHO, “Probiotics in Food: Health and Nutritional Properties and Guidelines for Evaluation. Expert Consultation on Evaluation of Health and Nutrition Properties of Probiotics in Food Including Powder Milk with Live Lactic Acid Bacteria,” 2001. ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/a0512e/a0512e00.pdf
[18] M. Saarela, L. L?hteenm?ki, R. Crittenden, S. Salminen and T. Mattilda-Sandholmm, “Gut Bacteria and Health Foods—The European Perspective,” International Journal of Food Microbiology, Vol. 78, No. 1-2, 2002, pp. 99117. doi:10.1016/S0168-1605(02)00235-0
[19] E. Lindstr?m, D. Chen, P. Norlén, K. Andersson and R. H?kanson, “Control of Gastric Acid Secretion: The Gastrin-ECL Cell-Parietal Cell Axis,” Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology—Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, Vol. 128, No. 3, 2001, pp. 503-511. doi:10.1016/S1095-6433(00)00331-7
[20] R. Fuller, “Probiotics in Human Medicine,” Gut, Vol. 32, No. 4, 1991, pp. 439-442. doi:10.1136/gut.32.4.439
[21] D. I. A. Pereira and G. R. Gibson, “Cholesterol Assimilation by Lactic Acid Bacteria and Bifidobacteria Isolated from the Human Gut,” Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 68, No. 9, 2002, pp. 4689-4693. doi:10.1128/AEM.68.9.4689-4693.2002
[22] R. I. Dave and N. P. Shah, “Evaluation of Media for Selective Enumeration of Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus ssp. bulgaricus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, and Bifidobacteria,” Journal of Dairy Science, Vol. 79, No. 9, 1996, pp. 1529-1538. doi:10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(96)76513-X
[23] M. Brink, S. D. Todorov, J. H. Martin, M. Senekal and L. M. T. Dicks, “The Effect of Prebiotics on Production of Antimicrobial Compounds, Resistance to Growth at Low pH and in the Presence of Bile, and Adhesion of Probiotic Cells to Intestinal Mucus,” Journal of Applied Microbiology, Vol. 100, No. 4, 2006, pp. 813-820.
[24] C. M. Roberts, W. F. Fett, S. F. Osman, C. Wijey, J. V. O’Connor and D.G. Hoover, “Exopolysaccharide Production by Bifidobacterium longum BB-79,” Journal of Applied Microbiology, Vol. 78, No. 5, 1995, pp. 463-468. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2672.1995.tb03085.x
[25] A. Gulcin, A. Belma and B. Hatice, “The Role of Resistance to Bile Salts and Acid Tolerance of Exopolysaccharides (EPSS) Produced by Yogurt Starter Bacteria,” Archives of Biological Sciences, Vol. 62, No. 2, 2010, pp. 323-328.
[26] D. G. Mater, L. Bretigny, O. Firmesse, M.-J. Flores, A. Mogenet, J.-L. Bresson and G. Corthier, “Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbreukii subsp. bulgaricus Survive Gastrointestinal Transit of Healthy Volunteers Consuming Yoghurt,” FEMS Microbiology Letters, Vol. 250, No. 2, 2005, pp. 185-187. doi:10.1016/j.femsle.2005.07.006
[27] S. Lick, K. Drescher and K. J. Heller, “Survival of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus in the Terminal Ileum of Fistulated G?ttingen Minipigs,” Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 67, No. 9, 2001, pp. 4137-4143. doi:10.1128/AEM.67.9.4137-4143.2001

Copyright © 2024 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.