Probiotic Properties of Lactic Acid Bacteria from Human Milk

Abstract

Probiotics are preparation of live microorganisms that have beneficial effects on the health of their host. Although probiotic strains can be isolated from many sources, for human applications, the main criteria are that it must be from human origin. Milk is an important nutrient source for neonates. Previous studies have shown that human breast milk has beneficial effects on the health of neonates. One reason for these beneficial effects might be explained by the micro flora of human breast milk including beneficial lactic acid-producing bacteria. The main aim of this paper is to review best practices in isolation and characterization of lactic acid bacteria from human milk by biochemical and molecular methods and also determine the probiotic properties of lactic acid-producing bacteria. Most lactic acidproducing bacteria have effective antimicrobial activity against food-borne pathogens like Salmonella, thyphimurium {CCM} 5445, Escherichia coli O157:H7 {NCTC} 129000 and Escherichia coli {NRRL} B-3008. Data show that these isolates possess probiotic properties, as demonstrated by using amplification and restriction fragment length polymorphism ({RFLP}) of 16S ribosomal {DNA} ({rDNA}) and 16S sequencing. Therefore, it is observed that, human milk is a source of potential probiotic strains.