Abstract:
This experiment was conducted to determine the pote
ntial synergistic relationship
between
Enterococcus faecium
and fructans
with different average Degree of
Polymerization (DPav) including OligoFructose (OF,
DPav 4), Standard-inulin (ST-inulin,
DPav 10), Synergy1-Inulin (SYN1-inulin, DPav 15) an
d High-Polymer inulin (HP-inulin,
DPav 25). A sterilized minimal MRS broth media was
prepared by omission of glucose.
The media pH was adjusted to a constant initial val
ue of 5.8±0.1 and the temperature was
maintained at 41°C. Sterilized fructans were added (
1% wt
⁄vol)
to the broths, as
experimental treatments with 3 replications each, a
nd the medium with no added
prebiotic was considered as the control. The same s
tarting density of 10
8
E. faecium
cells
per ml was introduced to all media. The media pH, v
iable cells count, as well as growth of
the latter were determined during 24 hours of
incubation. The lowest pH and best growth
rates were observed in the media enriched with OF a
nd ST-inulin. Unlike aerobic, the
anaerobic conditions produced no significant differ
ences in growth of the bacteria among
SYN1-inulin and HP-inulin treatments compared to th
e control. The viable cells count in
the media containing OF was significantly higher th
an in the control and other
treatments. The significant differences were also f
ound among the control and treatments
supplemented with ST-inulin and SYN1-inulin. In con
clusion, the fructans with lower DP
were preferentially metabolized by
E. faecium
, and hence it follows that a synbiotic blend
of
E. faecium
and OF has the potential to be used in poultry nutr
ition.
Keywords
: Degree of polymerization,
Enterococcus faecium
,
In vitro
, Inulin-type fructans, Synbiotic.
