Synbiotic effect of various prebiotics on in vitro activities of probiotic lactobacilli.

In the present study, five Lactobacillus strains were evaluated for their viability in presence of different prebiotics viz. inulin, oligofructose, lactulose, raftilose, and honey. The viability of lactobacilli was observed before and after 5 weeks of refrigerated storage. The doubling time varied from 5.2 hrs to 9.6 hrs. The lowest doubling time was for Lactobacillus plantarum M5 followed by L. plantarum Ch1 with inulin. Viability of lactobacilli was greatest with inulin. The growth and viability in presence of prebiotics were found to be strain-specific. Hence, it could be concluded that the addition of prebiotics have a significant effect on probiotics, and hence, a combination of suitable Lactobacillus strain(s) with a specific prebiotic could be a viable probiotic-based functional food approach in administering the beneficial bacteria in-vivo.