Probiotics 2

Continued from Probiotics and Prebiotics As Ingredients in Functional Foods

Since lactitol can pass the upper gastrointestinal tract without being hydrolyzed and absorbed, it is capable of promoting the growth of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli in the colon.  The intestinal bacteria ferment lactitol, resulting in the establishment of an acidic environment in the colon due to the formation of short chain fatty acids.  At these acidic conditions, beneficial bacteria, better known as probiotics, grow in preference over disease causing organisms or pathogens with proteolytic activity such as Enterobacteria and Enterococci (Scevola et al.,1993a,b;  Balongue et al., 1997; Lebek and Luginbühl, 1989; Ravelli et al.,1995).  As a result, the production of circulating levels of NH3 and toxic microbial substances by the proteolytic bacteria will be reduced, of which the clinical utility is the treatment of the liver disorder (Blanc et al., 1992).

Probiotics like Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli can be delivered also proactively to the host by consuming for example cultured dairy products.  However, to be able to consume the probiotics, it is necessary that they survive the shelf life of the carrier product. The addition of lactitol to a fermented milk product has shown to improve the survival of Bifidobacteria (patent 11-113484).  So, lactitol improves not only host health, also a food product might benefit from the addition of lactitol.