Nutcha Sirichotinun, Ulisa Pachekrepapol, Kwannan Nantavisai, Malai Taweechotipatr, and Sirinun Nilwarangkoon

DOI: 10.14456/sjst-psu.2020.85

pp. 671 - 677

Abstract

Hypercholesterolemia is one of the major health problems affecting people worldwide. Some probiotic lactic acid
bacteria possess cholesterol lowering ability. One-hundred lactic acid bacteria isolated from the feces of healthy Thai infants
were screened for bile salt hydrolase activity and cholesterol assimilation ability. Seven isolates expressed strong bile salt
hydrolase activity and 7 isolates exhibited cholesterol assimilation properties. In total, 11 probiotic candidates were characterized
for their general probiotic properties including acid and bile tolerance, adherence to Caco-2 cells and genotypic identification
using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Eight isolates were identified as Enterococcus faecalis and others were E. faecium, E. durans,
and Lactococcus garvieae. All selected isolates survived after incubation at pH 3 and 4, and in 0.3% and 0.8% bile. The strain E.
faecium MSMC 25-2 exhibited the highest level of adhesion to Caco-2 cells at 8.8% compared to L. rhamnosus GG.