Lactobacillus Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Lactobacillus, including details on probiotics, digestion, diet, health, lactobacillus acidophilus.

Development of an improved procedure for isolation and purification of exopolysaccharides produced by Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus NCFB 2483.

Goh KK, Haisman DR, Singh H

Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health, Massey University, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North, New Zealand. k.t.goh@massey.ac.nz

A method was developed for the isolation and purification of exopolysaccharide (EPS) produced by Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus NCFB 2483 that can be adapted for industrial-scale operation. Hydrolyzed milk medium, which was ultrafiltered to remove molecular species larger than 2.5 x 10(5) Da, was found to be a suitable growth medium for the bacteria, which produced approximately 400 mg EPS/l . Optimal isolation of EPS was achieved using centrifugation, filtration and ethanol precipitation methods. Insoluble and soluble EPS fractions were obtained. The soluble fraction was purified using a series of ethanol precipitations to achieve approximately 98% (w/w) purity. This fraction consisted of galactose, glucose, rhamnose and mannose in the ratio of approximately 5:1:0.6:0.5, with traces of glucosamine.

Published 18 April 2005 in Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 67(2): 202-8.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Lactobacillus Research Today. All Rights Reserved.