Manufacturing aspects of Probiotics and Prebiotics

Hello all, the first Post of this blog is about the manufacturing aspects of Probiotics and Prebiotics.

So let's continue,

Introduction:- Various types of microorganisms, known as gut microbiota, are inhabitants of the human gastrointestinal tract. It has been reported that there are live microorganisms per gram in the human colon. The resident microbial groups in the stomach, small, and large intestine are crucial for human health. The majority of these microorganisms, which are mostly anaerobes, live in the large intestine. Although some endogenous factors, such as mucin secretions, can affect the microbial balance.  The human diet is the chief source of energy for their growth. Particularly, non-digestible carbohydrates can highly modify the composition and function of gut microbiota. Beneficial intestinal microbes ferment these non-digestible dietary substances called prebiotics and obtain their survival energy from degrading indigestible binds of prebiotics. As a result of this, prebiotics can selectively influence gut microbiota. On the other hand, the gut microbiota affects intestinal functions, such as metabolism and integrity of the intestine. Moreover, they can suppress pathogens in healthy individuals through the induction of some immunomodulatory molecules with antagonistic effects against pathogens by lactic acid that is produced by Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus genera.
                                                

Prebiotics:- Prebiotics are compounds in food that induce the growth or activity of beneficial microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. The most common example is in the gastrointestinal tract, where prebiotics can alter the composition of organisms in the gut microbiome. Dietary prebiotics is typically non-digestible fiber compounds that pass undigested through the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract and stimulate the growth or activity of advantageous bacteria that colonize the large bowel by acting as a substrate for them. Fermentation is the main mechanism of action by which prebiotics are used by beneficial bacteria in the colon.
 

Both Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus are bacterial populations that use saccharolytic metabolism to break down substrates. The bifidobacterial genome contains many genes that encode for carbohydrate-modifying enzymes as well as genes that encode for carbohydrate uptake proteins. The presence of these genes indicates that Bifidobacteria contain specific metabolic pathways specialized for the fermentation and metabolism of plant-derived oligosaccharides, or prebiotics. These pathways in Bifidobacteria ultimately produce short-chain fatty acids, which have diverse physiological roles in body functions.

Process steps ( From rye bran to prebiotic products ):- The prebiotics are obtained normally through enzymatic processes or extraction from natural food. 

• The first step in our process consists of screening potential prebiotic-producers from microbial culture collections. 
• The selected organisms are further used for process development. Process optimization is conducted at several levels, namely medium composition, operational conditions including downstream processing, and scale-up. 
• Finally, the produced compounds are tested for their prebiotic activity using an in-vitro gut model.
  The process steps are as follows:- 

Heat pretreatment

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Starch degradation (via amylase & amyloglucosidase)

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Protein degradation (Via protease)

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Separation steps to remove small molecules (via ethanol precipitation)

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Xylan hydrolysis (via xylanase)

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prebiotic oligosaccharides (product)

There are some other types of prebiotics also such as 

GOS, FOS. The process steps may vary according to the demand for probiotics and substrate.

Probiotics:- Probiotic defined according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation and the World Health Organization as “Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host". Synbiotic products are a combination of probiotics and prebiotics. The prebiotic substances are adapted to the demands of the probiotic microorganisms. Hence their survival and proliferation are increased.

In general, it is assumed that the microorganisms should reach the large intestine alive. Therefore they have to be able to withstand the conditions in the gut with a pH value down to 0.8 and the proteolytic activity of the pepsin. Probiotic strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus belong to the most stable lactic acid bacteria under these conditions. Industrial processes for food culture production, including probiotics, almost exclusively use conventional batch fermentation with suspended cells.

Fermentation

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Strain selection

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Blending

(The bacterial strains and protective and nutritional ingredients of the are mixed on a carrier material.)

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Testing

(After the formulation is produced, the complete formulation is tested in vitro on real-time stability, gastrointestinal survival, and metabolic activity.)

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Packaging

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