Abstract

Two strains of Lactobacillus plantarum isolated from akamu a Nigerian fermented maize food were investigated for probiotic potential based on: adhesion to hydrocarbons (hydrophobicity), porcine mucin and epithelial cell models. Gelatinase and haemolytic activities of the L. plantarum isolates were also studied. Adhesions to mono polar solvents (>22%) were significantly (p≤0.05) higher than the n-alkanes (<13%) with significant maximal affinity (35%) for chloroform an acidic solvent. The general order of affinity was chloroform > ethyl acetate > hexadecane > hexane. NGL7 had significantly (p≤0.05) the highest affinity for all the solvents. Both L. plantarum strains had significant adhesions to porcine mucin (≥6.51 Log₁₀ CFU mL^-1) after 2 h at 37^oC. Viable counts on Caco-2 cells were 5.13 and 5.53 Log₁₀ CFU mL^-1 for NGL7 and NGL5 respectively. The L. plantarum strains possessed significant adhesion abilities: adhesion to hydrocarbons, porcine mucin and Caco-2 cells with no gelatinase and haemolytic activity. This suggested that the L. plantarum strains isolated from the Nigerian fermented maize food -akamu would be able to adhere to the intestinal mucosa and epithelial cells for beneficial health effects without posing any risk. 

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