The effects of antioxidants on the variability of probiotics

BSc student: Almira Bogdanic

Mentor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Altijana Hromic-Jahjefendic

Year: 2018

It is very important to take care of our digestive system and to be sure that we are absorbing nutrients. To make this happen the main roles have probiotics. Definition of probiotics is that they are live microorganisms which, when they are applied in adequate amounts, have beneficial properties to the host health. However, the probiotics could lose some of their beneficial function in the contact with the stomach acid which has pH of 2. Regarding to this, the purpose of this project was to carry out effect of different compounds with antioxidant properties on concentration of probiotics. After finding the best condition, commercially available probiotics were grown using media with different pH, with the focus on pH 3 which is closest to the one which humans have in their stomach, and pH 7 which is optimal pH value for microorganism growth. For this purpose, different compounds with antioxidant properties were added to the probiotic growth culture and the growth was followed spectrophotometrically. The concentration of probiotics decreases in the media at pH 3 compared to the media at pH 7. However, in combination with antioxidants, number of probiotics increases on the media with both pH values. This study proves the importance of antioxidants and their positive effects on the growth of probiotics in our gut.