Exploration of probiotic potential in indigenous lactic acid bacteria

Aims: To screen for the new effective antibacterial and probiotic strain of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from indigenous sources such as milk, yogurt, tomato and infant feces. Methods and Results: On the basis of morphology, cultural characteristics and catalase test isolates were identified up to genus level. Stab and agar well assay was performed to investigate the antagonistic potential of isolates. In order to rule out the effect of acid neutralized cell free culture supernatants (NCFCS) were used. Of all the isolates screened for antagonistic activity a milk isolate designated as LBM-86 appeared as strong bacteriocin producer, hence it was selected for further studies to determine its acid and bile tolerance which is generally considered important property for survival of probiotic strain in small intestine. When LBM-86 was grown in different concentrations of bile, decrease in absorbance and CFUml-1 was observed at high concentrations of bile, but bacteriocin activity was enhanced at these concentrations. Conclusions: Our isolate LBM-86 displayed antibacterial activity and bile tolerance, this could emphasize its candidature as probiotic. Significance and impact of the study: LBM-86 exhibited promising results and possess potentials for further research to explore its role as probiotic strain for nutritional and beneficial aspects.