Investigation of pectin as a prebiotic, antioxidant and antimicrobial agent for the bacteria selected from human milk of mothers of premature infants

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Pectin is a complex polysaccharide, present in fresh and processed food as an additive, which also serves as an important source of fiber. In this work, the aim was to investigate in-vitro application of apple pectin as a possible antimicrobial, antioxidant and prebiotic agent for growth of bacteria selected from human milk and infant feces, as well as standard strains Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Bifidobacterium bifidum. METHODS : All the bacteria isolated from the milk of mothers of preterm and term-born infants, bacteria from infant feces and standard strains were tested for fermentation of apple pectin as the main carbohydrate in selective broth media. RESULTS: An increase in the growth of bacteria Bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus, and a consortium of bacteria selected from human milk and infant feces was noticed after pectin fermentation. It was found that pectin has a positive impact on the increase of the antioxidant capacity in all the tested samples. A high correlation was achieved, comparing electrochemical with spectrophotometric methods. Antimicrobial tests showed that pectin and fermentation products have slight or no influence at all on the growth of standard strains of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed the importance of pectin as an antioxidant and its impact on the development of potential probiotic microbiota in mothers and infants. The study indicated a new potential application of pectin as a supplement in infant food.