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In vitro evaluation of the cholesterol-reducing ability of a potential probiotic Bacillus spp

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Abstract

The cholesterol removal ability of three potential probiotic Bacillus spp., namely, B. flexus MCC 2458, B. flexus MCC 2427 and B. licheniformis MCC 2514, has been studied. All the three isolates were deprived of bile salt hydrolase enzyme, but they were still able to remove cholesterol by other mechanisms which were strain-dependent. B. flexus MCC 2427 used cholesterol oxidase (2.5 U/mL) for cholesterol removal, whereas B. flexus MCC 2458 underwent co-precipitation in the presence of bile. B. licheniformis MCC 2514 was involved in cholesterol assimilation, which was also confirmed through an increase in saturated and unsaturated fatty acid contents in the cellular lipid profile. An interesting observation was that the cell-free supernatants of all three isolates exhibited cholesterol-reducing ability and that all were stable at both acidic and alkaline pH. Although the cultures were observed to differ in behavior, their hypocholesterolemic effect satisfies a criterion for their potential application in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Director, CSIR-CFTRI, for granted use of all facilities. SRP thanks the SERB–Department of Science and Technology, Govt of India, New Delhi for sponsoring the start-up project grant (Project No. SR/FT/LS-203/2009).

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The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Microbiology and Fermentation Technology Department, Central Food Technological Research Institute, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Mysore, 570 020, India

    Papanna Shobharani & Prakash Motiram Halami

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  1. Papanna Shobharani
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  2. Prakash Motiram Halami
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Correspondence to Prakash Motiram Halami.

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Shobharani, P., Halami, P.M. In vitro evaluation of the cholesterol-reducing ability of a potential probiotic Bacillus spp. Ann Microbiol 66, 643–651 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-015-1146-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-015-1146-6

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