Lactic Acid Bacteria and B Vitamins

Abstract

Vitamin is one of the most significant micronutrients in all the biological metabolism progress. The 13 vitamins which are necessary to human bodies can be divided into lipid-soluble (vitamins A, D, E, K) and water-soluble (vitamin C and eight kinds of B vitamins). B vitamins contain thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin (vitamin B3), pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), vitamin B6, biotin (vita-min B7 or vitamin H), folic acid (vitamin B9), and cobalamin (vitamin B12). Each B-type vitamin has different chemical properties, and its derivatives often participate in metabolism (such as energy production, red blood cell synthesis, etc.) as specific co-enzymes in physiological activities and play an important role in maintaining homeostasis (Table 3.1). B vitamins exist in various foods (Table 3.2) and easy to be destroyed by cooking and processing. Thus, the deficiency of B vitamins is the common problem influencing human health. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are a kind of microorganism widely used in fermented foods, which are able to extend the shelf life of foods, improve the nutritional value, and develop the flavor. Lactic acid bacteria can synthesize and release some beneficial substances in food. The vitamin is one of the functional components of LAB synthesize. With the rapid development of genomics, humans can not only identify potential vitamin synthesis strains through genetic information but also improve their vitamin production by investigating their genetically anabolic networks. Therefore, as food microorganisms, the LAB is a kind of ideal microorganism for solving the problem of insufficient vitamin intake in humans in the future.