Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the antibacterial effect – through the determination
of minimum inhibitory (and lethal) concentrations, as well as the possible prebiotic potential of
chitooligosaccharides (COS) – through the determination of growth curves, on Bifidobacterium animalis
Bb12, Bifidobacterium animalis Bo and Lactobacillus acidophilus Ki. Atomic force microscopy was further
used to obtain high resolution images of COS effects upon the cell morphology. Our results demonstrate
that COS do not stimulate the growth of those strains, neither the strains are capable of using COS as a primary
source of carbon. Analysis of morphology when exposed to inhibitory/bactericidal concentrations,
suggested that COS do not exert any direct damage upon the bacteria structure, instead the bacteria are
apparently covered by COS, which likely prevent nutrient uptake.
Description
Keywords
Chitosan Probiotic bacteria Atomic force microscopy Chitooligosaccharides
Citation
FERNANDES, João C... [et al.] - Evaluation of chitoligosaccharides effect upon probiotic bacteria. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules. ISSN 0141-8130. Vol. 50, n.º1 (2012), p. 148–152
Publisher
Elsevier