Coklat adalah salah satu daripada makanan pembekal tenaga segera dan mempunyai kandungan antioksida yang tinggi. Dalam kajian ini, fungsi coklat telah ditingkatkan dengan menjadikannya sebagai pembawa bahan prebiotik melalui penukaran keseluruhan kandungan gula dengan inulin. Ujian awal telah dilakukan untuk memilih kepekatan atau dos inulin yang paling sesuai sebagai sumber karbon untuk merangsang pertumbuhan bifidobakteria dalam fermentasi kultur kelompok selama 24 jam dengan menilai kesannya terhadap perubahan kepekatan sel. Ujian dilakukan terhadap 4 strain bifidobakteria iaitu Bifidobacterium longum BB536, B. breve ATCC 15700, B. infantis ATCC 15697 dan B. pseudocatenulatum G4. Keputusan menunjukkan kesemua strain bifidobakteria mampu menggunakan inulin sebagai sumber karbon pada kepekatan 2, 5, 10 hinggalah 15 g/L inulin. Manakala kepekatan 5 g/L inulin dilihat mampu digunakan secara optimum (tiada perbezaan signifikan pada p>0.05) oleh keempat-empat spesies bifidobakteria tersebut. Inulin pada kepekatan 5 g/L telah digunakan untuk menghasilkan produk coklat susu (MC-1) dan coklat gelap (DC-2) berinulin, yang seterusnya dinilai kemampuan produk merangsang pertumbuhan spesis bifidobakteria berkenaan secara in vitro. Didapati wujud korelasi negatif yang signifikan (p<0.01) antara pertambahan bilangan bifidobakteria dan pH untuk setiap kultur tulen B. pseudocatenulatum G4, B. Infantis, B. Breve (masing-masing r= -0.97) dan B. longum BB536 (r= -0.95). Inulin dengan kepekatan 5 g/L telah digunakan sebagai ramuan produk coklat berinulin atau prebiotik. Ia didapati dapat meningkatkan pertumbuhan keempat-empat spesis bifidobakteria berkenaan dengan lebih berkesan berbanding penggunaan inulin sahaja sebagai sumber karbon.
The influence of commercial prebiotics (fructo-oligosaccharides and inulin) and sugars (glucose and sucrose) on enhancing equol production from soymilk isoflavones by Bifidobacterium longum BB536 and Bifidobacterium breve ATCC 15700 was evaluated in vitro. Sterilized soymilk was inoculated with each bacterial species at 37 °C for 48 h. The growth and β-glucosidase enzyme activity for the two Bifidobacterium species in soymilk throughout fermentation were assessed. The highest viable count for B. breve (8.75 log CFU/ml) was reached at 36 h and for B. longum (8.55 log CFU/ml) at 24 h. Both bacterial species displayed β-glucosidase activity. B. breve showed increased enzyme activity (4.126 U) at 36 h, while B. longum exhibited maximum activity (3.935 U) at 24 h of fermentation. Among the prebiotics screened for their effect in isoflavones transformation to equol, inulin delivered the highest effect on equol production. The co-culture of B. longum BB536 and B. breve ATCC15700 in soymilk supplemented with inulin produced the highest level (11.49 mmol/l) of equol at 48 h of fermentation process. Level of daidzin declined whereas that of daidzein increased, and then gradually decreased due to formation of equol when soymilk was fermented using bifidobacterial. This suggests that the nutritional value of soymilk may be increased by increasing bioavailability of the bioactive ingredients. Collectively these data identify probiotics and prebiotic combinations suitable for inclusion in soymilk to enhance equol production.
This research was carried out to determine the fructooligosaccharides content in local honey samples, namely the wild Malaysian Tualang honey and common wild honey obtained from Tapah, Perak and a commercial Tualang honey. Local wild honeys were found to contain a higher concentration of fructooligosaccharides (FOS) compared to the commercial Tualang honey. The FOS quantified from local wild honeys was inulobiose, kestose and nystose. Nystoses were found at a very low amount in the commercial Tualang honey. The effects of honey on the growth of Bifidobacterium longum BB 536 were investigated. Both wild and commercial honey samples including FOS standard were found to support the growth of B. longum. The pH value of the skim milk + honey inoculated with the probiotic strain decreases as expected. Addition of honey was found to support the growth of B. longum BB 536.