Probiotics refer to microbial preparations or other substances that can promote the balance of microbial flora in the intestines of humans and animals. Probiotics are widely used in medicine, health care, food, animal husbandry and aquatic products. It has the functions of regulating intestinal dysfunction, maintaining the balance of intestinal flora and improving the body's immune level. Currently, the widely used probiotics in the world include lactobacilli, bifidobacteria, bacillus and yeast, but lactobacilli and bifidobacteria have poor resistance to gastric acid, bile salts and high temperature.
In recent years, Bacillus coagulans has become a hot spot in probiotic research due to its unique advantages such as strong stress resistance, high temperature and high-pressure resistance, and easy storage. Nutreebio exchanged experiences with many companies and finally jointly selected a strain of Bacillus coagulans from traditional shrimp paste. This strain has strong stress resistance and intestinal survival ability, and good growth performance. At the same time, it can have a therapeutic effect on intestinal diseases by regulating the composition of microbial flora, host immunity and metabolism.
1. Health Benefits of Bacillus coagulans
A.Antioxidant
Bacillus coagulans can inhibit oxidation induced by reactive oxygen species and enhance the macrophage activity of neutrophil (PMN) cells. Researchers studied the cell wall constituents of Bacillus coagulans and the fermentation supernatant, and found that both can improve intestinal immunity by regulating cytokines, inhibit reactive oxygen species, and enhance cell phagocytosis.
Bacillus coagulans can regulate the secretion of cytokines, induce cytokines IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α and IFN-γ, and inhibit the production of IL-2. Jensen et al. found through research that the bacteria can induce the expression of NK cell CD69, thereby activating cells CD3-CD56+, and when the coagulant spores are exposed to tumor cells, the expression of NK cell CD107a can be enhanced. The study also found that B. coagulans GBl-30-6086 would respond quickly to the invasion of adenovirus and influenza A virus and promote the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) in the human body. After 30 days, the levels of TNF-α reached 2.5 and 17.09 times the original level, respectively. This shows that Bacillus coagulans has an effective immunomodulatory effect on the body.
B.Promote digestion and metabolism of the body
Bacillus coagulans has a large enzyme system that can produce active substances such as protease, lipase, amylase and xylanase, which helps to enhance the gastrointestinal tract's ability to digest and absorb food and improve the conversion and utilization rate of food.
In addition, Bacillus coagulans can also produce β-galactosidase and lactate dehydrogenase, so it can help people with lactose intolerance digest lactose. Bacillus coagulans can combine and use cholesterol to synthesize cell structural substances, and has a certain inhibitory effect on 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reduc-tase) produced by cholesterol. This will help reduce the cholesterol content in the blood, thereby preventing diseases caused by high cholesterol.
C.Inhibit pathogenic bacteria
Bacillus coagulans can produce a large amount of L(+)-lactic acid through metabolism, lowering the pH of the surrounding environment, thereby effectively inhibiting the growth of basophilic pathogenic bacteria. In addition, the bacteria can produce bacteriocins and bacteriocin-like substances, among which coagulin and lactosporin are the main antibacterial substances.
In 1997, scientists discovered a plasmid PI4 of about 14kb from a strain of Bacillus coagulans l4 isolated from cow feces. The coa operon carried on this plasmid can produce a substance with antibacterial activity unique to Bacillus coagulans - coagulin. Coagulin is a pediocin-like peptide substance with a molecular size of 4612 Da and composed of 44 amino acid residues. The middle amino acids form an α-helical structure and the two ends are irregularly curled. It is similar to pediocin PA-1/AcH, except that the asparagine at the C-terminus of pediocin 41 is replaced by threonine. Coagulins have strong thermal stability, are not affected by organic solvents, esterases and α-amylases, and are sensitive to proteolytic enzymes. Coagulins can effectively inhibit enterococci, vinococci, leuconostoc, listeria and pediococci, and have good synergistic effects with lactococci and lactobacilli.
2. Regulatory Dynamics
Bacillus coagulans can grow in aerobic and anaerobic environments, has high tolerance to acid and bile, can carry out lactic acid fermentation, reduce intestinal pH, inhibit harmful bacteria, and promote the growth and reproduction of beneficial bacteria. It can form spores, which helps to restore the microecological balance of the gastrointestinal tract.
In the early 19th century, condensed milk showed large-scale coagulation and tomato, potato and other products were rancid and spoiled. After in-depth research, it was found that it was caused by Bacillus coagulans. In 1932, Bacillus coagulans was first isolated and studied in detail.
Bacillus coagulans are currently very popular in many countries and regions and have been officially recognized. Bacillus coagulans has been certified GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for adults and infants. Health Canada has also approved the use of Bacillus coagulans. In the European Union, Bacillus coagulans has obtained QPS (Qualified Presumption of Safety) certification. Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) has also issued a health statement recognizing Bacillus coagulans. The Japanese Ministry of Health has recognized the use of Bacillus coagulans and approved related facilities. On October 14, 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China organized the solicitation of opinions on the national standard "Feed Additives Part 5: Microbial Bacillus coagulans".
At present, enterprises have gradually recognized the advantages of Bacillus coagulans and started to use them, but due to the lack of national standards or industry standards, the market is not standardized, the use effect is unstable, and supervision is difficult. As an important microbial additive, Bacillus coagulans are receiving more and more attention, and relevant regulations and standards will be gradually improved.
3. Market Application and Product Dynamics
As a new type of microecological probiotic, Bacillus coagulans is widely used in health care, medical treatment, food and animal husbandry. Research on its characteristics, probiotic effects and mechanisms, fermentation culture and clinical research is in progress at home and abroad.
Bacillus coagulans is used as a fermentation agent in the food industry. The lactic acid and butyric acid produced by its fermentation can improve the freshness, taste and nutritional value of food.
In animal breeding, Bacillus coagulans are also used as animal feed additives to improve the intestinal microecological balance and digestive system function of animals, promote digestion and absorption, enhance immune function, and improve animal feed utilization and growth performance.
As a probiotic, Bacillus coagulans are often used as additives or dietary supplements added to foods and beverages, such as yogurt, dairy products, beverages, etc., and dietary fiber supplements such as capsules, powders and gummy, etc., to improve intestinal health, promote digestion and nutrient absorption, and maintain intestinal flora balance.
Bacillus coagulans is also used in the field of environmental remediation, such as in sewage treatment and soil remediation, where it helps decompose organic pollutants through its metabolic activities.
In the agricultural field, Bacillus coagulans can be used as biofertilizers or biopesticides to promote plant growth and improve crop disease resistance and yield.
In the pharmaceutical field, the research and application of Bacillus coagulans are also developing, including as part of a drug delivery system and its potential in the development of new antibiotics and vaccines.
According to market research data, the global Bacillus coagulans market sales reached US$137.4 million in 2021 and are expected to reach US$253.5 million by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.08%.
4. Current status of production technology
Ordinary Bacillus coagulans have poor tolerance. In order to ensure that microecological preparations are not easily inactivated during long-term storage, a series of issues such as thermal stability, acid resistance, and bile resistance must be considered during preparation.
In order to better play the probiotic role of Bacillus coagulans, researchers have studied its spore production conditions to achieve the goal of rapid and large-scale spore formation. Scientists used response surface methodology to model, optimize and analyze the fermentation process, and increased the spore formation rate of Bacillus coagulans to 87.93%. At the same time, it was found that the number of spores per gram of biomass could reach 6x1012 through multivariate response surface modeling and optimization based on genetic algorithms. Scientists expanded the culture of Bacillus coagulans in a 15 L automatic fermenter, controlled the dissolved oxygen to more than 30%, and cultured for 20 hours. The number of spores reached 5.8x108CFU·mL-1 and the spore formation rate was 96.7%. The study found that gauze scraps as a solid carrier promoted the spore production of Bacillus coagulans, tomato juice and inorganic salts also had a significant spore-promoting effect, and Mn2+ could promote the formation of spores.
5. Introduction to the scientific achievements of scientists
The technology discussed by Nutreebio this time can extract Bacillus coagulans with uric acid lowering and antioxidant capabilities from the traditional shrimp paste in Binzhou, Shandong, China. The shrimp protein fermented beverage obtained by fermenting with Bacillus coagulans as described above eliminates the disadvantages of high purine and poor taste of shrimp meat, and has strong antioxidant activity and xanthine oxidase XOD inhibition ability, and has the potential to lower uric acid.
The technology first requires fresh shrimp meat to be soaked in 65-75℃ water for 30 minutes, then dried overnight, crushed and sieved through a 100-mesh sieve. Then add excess anhydrous ethanol, let it stand at 50-60℃ for 1 hour, stir every 20 minutes, repeat defatting twice, and dry.
Then, papain is used for enzymolysis, and then the enzyme is killed by boiling, and the enzyme is removed by centrifugation at 6000r/min for 10min, and the supernatant is taken; activated carbon is added to the enzymolysis solution to remove bitterness, astringency and odor, and the solution is centrifuged at 8000r/min for 10min, and the supernatant is taken, and the process is repeated once; the solution is pasteurized in a water bath at 62-65℃ for 30min and then cooled.
The obtained liquid is compounded with pasteurized fresh pure lemon juice and then inoculated with the strain of Bacillus coagulans GH1-1 for fermentation; and then a flavoring agent is added for blending to obtain a shrimp protein fermented beverage.
The beverage invented by this technology is an animal protein fermented beverage. Compared with plant protein fermented beverages, the amino acid composition (especially essential amino acids) of animal protein is more complete, the composition ratio is closer to the human body, and it is easier to be absorbed by the human body. The beverage of the present invention has stable quality, rich nutrition, and excellent taste and flavor.
6. Conclusion
In recent years, with the rapid development of the economy and changes in lifestyle, the incidence of hyperuricemia has increased significantly worldwide, and it is showing a trend of younger age. Hyperuricemia is not only a key risk factor for gout, but also closely related to kidney disease, hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, hyperuricemia has become an increasingly serious public health problem. Effectively reducing uric acid levels is the key to reducing the risk of gout and preventing complications. Most patients require long-term or even lifelong uric acid-lowering drug treatment. However, long-term use of uric acid-lowering drugs is costly and has certain side effects. Therefore, actively looking for safe, cheap and effective medicinal and edible products has important clinical and public health significance.
Probiotic food is a functional food that is beneficial to human health. It has the effects of improving intestinal microecological balance, regulating nutritional metabolism, enhancing immune efficacy, and preventing and treating metabolic diseases, cardiovascular diseases, tumors and other diseases. It has huge commercial benefits and a growing market share. Bacillus coagulans, as a new type of microecological probiotic, has high stress resistance such as high temperature resistance, acid resistance and bile salt resistance, as well as a strong ability to inhibit intestinal pathogens. It has a wide range of application potential in health care, medical treatment, food and animal husbandry.
The shrimp protein beverage invented by this technology has a high DPPH clearance rate and the DPPH clearance rate after fermentation is significantly improved. It can be used as a new antioxidant functional beverage. And through the xanthine oxidase (XOD) activity inhibition experiment, it was found that the live bacteria beverage has a high XOD inhibition ability and has the effect of lowering uric acid, and the fermentation process of the strain will enhance this function, so it has a good effect in preventing hyperuricemia.
With the increase in people's understanding of health and probiotics, Bacillus coagulans has great market potential as a component of dietary supplements and health products to improve the nutritional value and health benefits of food. In the field of medicine, clinical research on Bacillus coagulans in the treatment of intestinal diseases, enhancing immunity, regulating blood sugar and blood lipids may bring new medical applications. With the continuous advancement of biotechnology, in-depth research on Bacillus coagulans may reveal more of its probiotic mechanisms and new application areas.
In summary, as a probiotic with multiple advantages, Bacillus coagulans has a very broad future development prospect and is expected to play an important role in many fields.
