Isolation, characterization and storage of probiotics associated with the fermentation of Bambara groundnut bran

Isolation refers to the separation of a strain from a natural, mixed population of living microbes as present in the environment.1 Bacterial isolation, purification and identification are the first steps to bacteriological studies. Isolation is done to obtain pure bacterial cultures. Pure culture is essential in the study of the morphology, physiology, biochemical characteristics, and susceptibility to antimicrobial agents of a particular bacterial strain.1 The formulation of the dietary supplements, functional foods or herbal products into marketed medicinal products is known as “nutraceuticals”; a term which combines “nutrition” and “pharmaceuticals”.2 Among various nutraceuticals of major importance in diseases prevention is probiotics.3 Probiotics are live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a beneficial health benefit on the host.4 Probiotics can be delivered commercially either as nutritional supplements, pharmaceuticals or foods. A large number of probiotic products are available in the market in the form of milk, drinking and frozen yoghurts, probiotic cheeses, ice creams, dairy spreads and fermented soya products. Also, special freeze-dried pharmaceutical dietary preparations are available in the form of tablets.5 Together with prebiotics, probiotics are often consumed as functional foods, demonstrated to be effective for the treatment or control of several diseases. Prebiotic substances, such as lactulose, lactitol, xylitol, inulin and certain non-digestive oligosaccharides, selectively stimulate the growth and activity of, for example, bifidobacteria in the colon (Zubillaga and Roberfroid, 2010). Most widely and commercially used probiotic species are Lactobacillus (L. acidophillus, L. casei, L. fermentum, L. gasseri, L. johnsnli, L.lactis, L. paracasei, L. plantarum, L. reuteri, L. rhamnosus, L. salivarius), Bifidobacterium(B. bifidum, B. breve, B. lactis, B. longum), Streptoccocus(S. thermophilus) species, yeasts and molds (Saccharomyces boulardii).