This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Banana puree, due to its nutritional composition, is a good substrate for fermentation in the dev... more Banana puree, due to its nutritional composition, is a good substrate for fermentation in the development of probiotic products. The production of banana puree mainly consists of three phases, i.e., raw material pretreatment, heat treatment, and the addition of anti-browning agents. In this study, we conducted three experimental protocols to evaluate the effect of ripeness grade, heat treatment, and ascorbic acid addition on fermentation performance. At the end of each protocol, the substrate was subjected to the fermentation process (37 °C, 48 h), and then measurements of pH reduction, microbial growth, and lactic acid production were used as markers in the analysis of fermentation performance. Ripe bananas produced better results than unripe bananas whose fermentation appeared to be inhibited. Therefore, ripe bananas were used to test the effect of two different heat treatments (sterilization (121 °C, 20 min) versus tyndallization (70 °C, 30 min; 37 °C, 30 min; 70 °C, 30 min)) on ...
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Intake of a postbiotic product can support immunity depending on specific conditions of the consu... more Intake of a postbiotic product can support immunity depending on specific conditions of the consumer. The present study evaluates the potential impact of baseline values on the change of various immune factors (α-defensin, β-defensin, cathelicidin, and secretory IgA) after three months of consumption of a postbiotic based on cow’s milk fermented with Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 in a young population. For the analysis, raw data of three studies were used in a multivariate analysis applying confounding factors. One study in newborns demonstrated that intake of the postbiotic yielded an increase in the concentrations of α-defensin and secretory IgA (at least p < 0.02), while for all factors, except β-defensin, the higher the baseline values the lower the increase (at least p < 0.002). Two combined studies in young children (aged 1–4 years) showed an increase in the concentration of all factors after intake of the postbiotic (at least p < 0.003), but now showing the higher ...
Synbiotic products are a type of functional food with great potential due to consumer interest in... more Synbiotic products are a type of functional food with great potential due to consumer interest in foods that improve health and/or reduce the risk of certain diseases. In this study, synbiotic macrocapsules were developed using Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 as probiotic and lactobionic acid (LBA) as prebiotic. Firstly, the probiotic was proven to be able to use LBA as the only substrate source checking their growth and lactic acid production. Then, four different types of capsules were produced using sodium alginate as matrix and different hardener solutions (CaCl2 and chitosan). The macrocapsules were characterised regarding their strength, and the best performing ones were used for further analysis. In order to obtain a synbiotic capsule characterized by a longer stability time due to low water activity, the capsules were dried using freeze and thermal drying. Successively, to revitalize the microorganisms, the capsules were rehydrated in two different media (saline solution and...
The mathematical modeling of fermentation processes allows for the formulation of predictions abo... more The mathematical modeling of fermentation processes allows for the formulation of predictions about the kinetics of biomass growth and metabolite production as well as setting or verifying the best operative conditions in view of the economical convenience of the process. For this purpose, we performed a kinetic study of a rice flour fermentation process using Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 with and without pH control; the pH value was set to 5.8 under pH control. Monod, Logistic, and Contois models were proposed to describe the bacterial growth rate in both conditions. The best mathematical model, which was able to describe the experimental data obtained without pH control, was the Contois model, as the specific growth rate was influenced by both the glucose reduction (from 14.31 g/L to 10.22 g/L) and the biomass production (2 log growth) that occurred during fermentation. Conversely, when pH control was implemented, both Monod and Contois models satisfactorily described the speci...
Background and objective: Consumer interests in probiotic foods have increased in recent decades.... more Background and objective: Consumer interests in probiotic foods have increased in recent decades. Food industries respond to these growing interests by developing innovative products and guaranteeing high production efficiency. Cereals, due to their prebiotic nature, are good fermentable substrates; from which, potentially functional foods could be achieved. The aim of this study was to verify effects of D-glucose addition on fermentation of rice, oat and wheat flours. Material and methods: Suspensions of 15% of cereals flours (rice, oat and wheat) in distilled water added with increasing glucose concentrations (2, 5, 7 and 10% w v -1 ) were fermented by Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 for 24 h. Then, pH, microbial growth and lactic acid production were assessed. Results and conclusion: Rice fermentation was not affected by glucose addition. For oat and wheat, addition of D-glucose increased bacterial concentration, as well as lactic acid production. In particular, the best growth w...
The concept of functional food has evolved throughout the years. These days we define a food to b... more The concept of functional food has evolved throughout the years. These days we define a food to be functional when it confers a benefit to human health. Lactic acid fermentation is one of the most important and used food processing technologies to produce this type of food. Fermentation of Lactobacillus Paracasei CBA L74 - a homofermentative, gram positive probiotic - on rice flour suspension has been proved to be a successful route to produce functional foods. However, the process was characterized by high energy consumption, low air sparging and complex expensive metabolite separation.A research program has been developed to carry out L. Paracasei fermentation using a low viscosity medium based on rice flour suspension. Fractionation of rice flour suspension provided a medium characterized by low amounts of solids and nutrients at concentration high that support the microorganism growth. Fermentations were carried in a 1L batch reactor equipped with an agitation systems designed t...
Celiac Disease (CD) is an autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation of the intestinal muco... more Celiac Disease (CD) is an autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation of the intestinal mucosa due to an immune response to wheat gliadins. It presents in subjects with genetic susceptibility (HLA-DQ2/DQ8 positivity and non-HLA genes) and under the influence of environmental triggers, such as viral infections and intestinal microbiota dysbiosis. The only treatment currently available in CD is a gluten-free diet for life. Despite this, the intestinal dysbiosis that is recorded in celiac subjects persists, even with adherence to dietary therapy. In this review, we have analyzed the literature over the past several decades, which have focused on the use of pro-, pre- and post-biotics in vitro and in vivo in CD. The study of probiotics and their products in CD could be interesting for observing their various effects on several different pathways, including anti-inflammatory properties.
Studies of the ability of probiotics to ferment cereal flours are necessary to obtain products wi... more Studies of the ability of probiotics to ferment cereal flours are necessary to obtain products with enhanced nutritional value. In this study, Lactobacillus paracasei CBA-L74 was used to ferment cereal aqueous mixtures containing both oat (7.5% w/v) and rice flours (7.5% w/v), with and without glucose, to understand whether glucose addition could have any effect on growth and metabolism. Viability, pH, metabolites production during fermentation (24 h, 37 C) and substrates reduction were analysed. The strain showed good growth in the cereal aqueous mixture both with and without glucose addition, but suspensions prepared with glucose showed the best results. A bacterial concentration of 7 log CFU mL À1 , a pH value of 4.70 and lactic acid production of 1250 mg L À1 were achieved when fermentation was performed without glucose addition, while in the presence of glucose, a t 24 bacterial growth of 8 log CFU mL À1 was reached, with a pH value of 3.11 and lactic acid production of 6050 mg L À1. Practical applications The aim of the present study was the fermentation of suspensions prepared by mixing equal parts of rice and oat flours with water to obtain a semi-finished product to use as a functional ingredient for the production of new dairy-or cereal-based products. Fermentation of single flours suspension was previously studied. By mixing two different flours, we wished to obtain semi-finished products with nutritional potentialities greater than those products obtained by fermenting single flours suspensions. In this sense, the role of glucose was also investigated.
The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2020
In recent years, scientific interest in the development of non‐dairy‐based functional foods is in... more In recent years, scientific interest in the development of non‐dairy‐based functional foods is increasing progressively and the fermentation of cereals, legumes, fruits and vegetable‐based foods is becoming an important scientific research topic for the production of new probiotic products. In particular, legumes represent a possible alternative to protein foods from animal origins and an adequate fermentation substrate as they contain high amount of nutrients, such as proteins, carbohydrates, fibres, vitamins, and minerals, which are all useful to the growth and metabolic activity of certain microorganisms. This work focuses on the feasibility of developing a dry legume‐based functional product using a fermentation process carried out on a 10% w/v navy bean suspension, in a lab‐scale stirred batch reactor. After soaking and cooking dried navy beans, the fermentation tests performed on the resulting medium using Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 showed a maximum bacterial count of 109...
International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 2019
Coeliac disease is an increasingly recognised pathology, induced by the ingestion of gluten in ge... more Coeliac disease is an increasingly recognised pathology, induced by the ingestion of gluten in genetically predisposed patients. Undigested gliadin peptide can induce adaptive and innate immune response that unleash the typical intestinal mucosal alterations. A growing attention is paid to alternative therapeutic approaches to the gluten-free diet: one of these approaches is the use of probiotics and/or postbiotics. We performed lactic fermentation of rice flour with and without pH control, using Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 as fermenting strain. We evaluated bacterial growth, lactic acid production during fermentation and gliadin peptide P31-43 entrance in CaCo-2 cells with and without pH control. When pH control was applied no differences were observed in terms of bacterial growth; on the contrary, lactic acid production was greater, as expected. Both samples could inhibit the P31-43 entrance in CaCo-2 cells but the effect was significantly greater for samples obtained when the pH control was applied.
Objective To evaluate the long-term validity and safety of pure oats in the treatment of children... more Objective To evaluate the long-term validity and safety of pure oats in the treatment of children with celiac disease. Study design This noninferiority clinical trial used a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design extended over 15 months. Three hundred six children with a biopsy-proven diagnosis of celiac disease on a glutenfree diet for ≥2 years were randomly assigned to eat specifically prepared gluten-free food containing an agedependent amount (15-40 g) of either placebo or purified nonreactive varieties of oats for 2 consecutive 6-month periods separated by washout standard gluten-free diet for 3 months. Clinical (body mass index, Gastrointestinal Symptoms Rating Scale score), serologic (IgA antitransglutaminase antibodies, and IgA anti-avenin antibodies), and intestinal permeability data were measured at baseline, and after 6, 9, and 15 months. Direct treatment effect was evaluated by a nonparametric approach using medians (95% CI) as summary statistic. Results After the exclusion of 129 patients who dropped out, the cohort included 177 children (79 in the oatsplacebo and 98 in the placebo-oats group; median, 0.004; 95% CI, −0.0002 to 0.0089). Direct treatment effect was not statistically significant for clinical, serologic, and intestinal permeability variables (body mass index:
Background In vivo assays cannot always be conducted because of ethical reasons, technical constr... more Background In vivo assays cannot always be conducted because of ethical reasons, technical constraints or costs, but a better understanding of the digestive process, especially in infants, could be of great help in preventing food-related pathologies and in developing new formulas with health benefits. In this context, in vitro dynamic systems to simulate human digestion and, in particular, infant digestion could become increasingly valuable. Objective To simulate the digestive process through the use of a dynamic model of the infant gastroenteric apparatus to study the digestibility of starch-based infant foods. Design Using M.I.D.A (Model of an Infant Digestive Apparatus), the oral, gastric and intestinal digestibility of two starch-based products were measured: 1) rice starch mixed with distilled water and treated using two different sterilization methods (the classical method with a holding temperature of 121˚C for 37 min and the HTST method with a holding temperature of 137˚C for 70 sec) and 2) a rice cream with (premium product) or without (basic product) an aliquot of rice flour fermented by Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74. After the digestion the foods were analyzed for the starch concentration, the amount of D-glucose released and the percentage of hydrolyzed starch. Results An in vitro dynamic system, which was referred to as M.I.D.A., was obtained. Using this system, the starch digestion occurred only during the oral and intestinal phase, as expected. The D-glucose released during the intestinal phase was different between the classical and HTST methods (0.795 grams for the HTST versus 0.512 for the classical product). The same analysis was performed for the basic and premium products. In this case, the premium PLOS ONE |
Background & aims: Safety and growth adequacy of infant formulae enriched by functional ingredien... more Background & aims: Safety and growth adequacy of infant formulae enriched by functional ingredients need stringent evaluation by means of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), therefore we performed a double-blind RCT to evaluate an infant formula enriched with galacto-oligosaccharides, beta-palmitate, and acidified milk vs. a standard infant formula. Methods: Weight, length, head circumference and fecal bacteria (Bifidobacteria, BIF/Clostridia, CLO) were measured in healthy full term infants, at baseline e as before 21 days of life e at 60 and 135 days thereafter. A group of 51 neonates received the enriched formula (ENR), 59 the standard one (ST). Parents were trained to daily register gastrointestinal diseases. Results: All the infants grew homogeneously increasing the anthropometric parameters and complying with WHO and Italian standards: the mean (SD) difference in daily weight between ENR and ST groups was À0.74 (1.13) g/day, corresponding to a 90% CI of À2.62 to 1.13 g/day, well within the postulated interval of equivalence of À3.9 to þ3.9 g/day. A statistical improvement in BIF concentration in the microbiota of infants fed by ENR was recorded. There was no between-group change in log 10 CLO, but log 10 BIF increase was higher at T2 vs. T0 in ENR (treatment  time interaction ¼ 0.71, 95% CI 0.08e1.34, p ¼ 0.028) than in ST neonates. This corresponds to estimated mean (95% CI) values of 8.37 (8.04e8.69) log 10-units for ENR vs. 8.08 (7.77e8.39) log 10-units for ST neonates. Gastrointestinal effects were mild and similar, with no statistical difference between two groups. Conclusion: Safety and growth ability of the enriched formula has been confirmed. A positive effect on neonatal gut microbiota, consisting of increased fecal BIF counts at T2 vs. baseline has been shown too. Nonetheless, larger RCTs are needed to estimate with greater precision the effective potential attributable to the enriched formula on neonatal microbiota, with particular reference to the mode of delivery.
International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 2014
Several recent reports describe a role of probiotics as a therapeutic approach for celiac disease... more Several recent reports describe a role of probiotics as a therapeutic approach for celiac disease (CD). Two undigested A-gliadin peptides, P31-43 and P57-68, are central to CD pathogenesis, inducing an innate and an adaptive immune response, respectively. They enter enterocytes and localize to vesicular compartment to induce their toxic/immunogenics effects. In this article, we tested the effect of probiotic Lactobacillus paracasei (LP) CBA L74 (International Depository Accession Number LMG P-24778), its supernatant and LP-fermented cereals on gliadin peptides, P31-43 and P57-68, entrance in Caco-2 cells. Both LP CBA L74 and its supernatant inhibit P31-43 (intensity of fluorescence; FI: 75%) and P57-68 (FI: 50%) entrance in Caco2 cells, indicating that this biological effect is due to some product included in LP CBA L74 supernatant. This effect was present also after fermentation of cereals. This study describes a novel effect of probiotics in the prevention of undigested gliadin peptides toxic effects.
The rapid expansion of commercially available fermented food products raises important safety iss... more The rapid expansion of commercially available fermented food products raises important safety issues particularly when infant food is concerned. In many cases, the activity of the microorganisms used for fermentation as well as what will be the immunological outcome of fermented food intake is not known. In this manuscript we used complex in vitro, ex-vivo and in vivo systems to study the immunomodulatory properties of probiotic-fermented products (culture supernatant and fermented milk without live bacteria to be used in infant formula). We found in vitro and ex-vivo that fermented products of Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 act via the inhibition of proinflammatory cytokine release leaving anti-inflammatory cytokines either unaffected or even increased in response to Salmonella typhimurium. These activities are not dependent on the inactivated bacteria but to metabolic products released during the fermentation process. We also show that our in vitro systems are predictive of an in vivo efficacy by the fermented products. Indeed CBA L74 fermented products (both culture medium and fermented milk) could protect against colitis and against an enteric pathogen infection (Salmonella typhimurium). Hence we found that fermented products can act via the inhibition of immune cell inflammation and can protect the host from pathobionts and enteric pathogens. These results open new perspectives in infant nutrition and suggest that L. paracasei CBA L74 fermented formula can provide immune benefits to formula-fed infants, without carrying live bacteria that may be potentially dangerous to an immature infant immune system.
the usefulness of this parameter. Results: The prevalence rate of MS was 13.07% (105 pts). Childr... more the usefulness of this parameter. Results: The prevalence rate of MS was 13.07% (105 pts). Children with MS had mean WHtR of 0.65 ± 0.09. Children without MS presented mean WHtR of 0.62 ± 0.06, this difference was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The Area Under ROC curve (AUC) was 0.690 for WCHtr (CI 95%: 0.637-0.743, p < 0.001) in detecting MS. WHtr cutoff value equal to 0.62 showed a sensibility of 76.3% and a specificity of 56% in identifying obese children affected by MS. Conclusions: WHtR is strongly related to MS and it seems to be a simple, non invasive and practical tool in detecting Paediatric MS: a cutoff value of 0.62 should suggest second-level examinations.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Banana puree, due to its nutritional composition, is a good substrate for fermentation in the dev... more Banana puree, due to its nutritional composition, is a good substrate for fermentation in the development of probiotic products. The production of banana puree mainly consists of three phases, i.e., raw material pretreatment, heat treatment, and the addition of anti-browning agents. In this study, we conducted three experimental protocols to evaluate the effect of ripeness grade, heat treatment, and ascorbic acid addition on fermentation performance. At the end of each protocol, the substrate was subjected to the fermentation process (37 °C, 48 h), and then measurements of pH reduction, microbial growth, and lactic acid production were used as markers in the analysis of fermentation performance. Ripe bananas produced better results than unripe bananas whose fermentation appeared to be inhibited. Therefore, ripe bananas were used to test the effect of two different heat treatments (sterilization (121 °C, 20 min) versus tyndallization (70 °C, 30 min; 37 °C, 30 min; 70 °C, 30 min)) on ...
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Intake of a postbiotic product can support immunity depending on specific conditions of the consu... more Intake of a postbiotic product can support immunity depending on specific conditions of the consumer. The present study evaluates the potential impact of baseline values on the change of various immune factors (α-defensin, β-defensin, cathelicidin, and secretory IgA) after three months of consumption of a postbiotic based on cow’s milk fermented with Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 in a young population. For the analysis, raw data of three studies were used in a multivariate analysis applying confounding factors. One study in newborns demonstrated that intake of the postbiotic yielded an increase in the concentrations of α-defensin and secretory IgA (at least p < 0.02), while for all factors, except β-defensin, the higher the baseline values the lower the increase (at least p < 0.002). Two combined studies in young children (aged 1–4 years) showed an increase in the concentration of all factors after intake of the postbiotic (at least p < 0.003), but now showing the higher ...
Synbiotic products are a type of functional food with great potential due to consumer interest in... more Synbiotic products are a type of functional food with great potential due to consumer interest in foods that improve health and/or reduce the risk of certain diseases. In this study, synbiotic macrocapsules were developed using Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 as probiotic and lactobionic acid (LBA) as prebiotic. Firstly, the probiotic was proven to be able to use LBA as the only substrate source checking their growth and lactic acid production. Then, four different types of capsules were produced using sodium alginate as matrix and different hardener solutions (CaCl2 and chitosan). The macrocapsules were characterised regarding their strength, and the best performing ones were used for further analysis. In order to obtain a synbiotic capsule characterized by a longer stability time due to low water activity, the capsules were dried using freeze and thermal drying. Successively, to revitalize the microorganisms, the capsules were rehydrated in two different media (saline solution and...
The mathematical modeling of fermentation processes allows for the formulation of predictions abo... more The mathematical modeling of fermentation processes allows for the formulation of predictions about the kinetics of biomass growth and metabolite production as well as setting or verifying the best operative conditions in view of the economical convenience of the process. For this purpose, we performed a kinetic study of a rice flour fermentation process using Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 with and without pH control; the pH value was set to 5.8 under pH control. Monod, Logistic, and Contois models were proposed to describe the bacterial growth rate in both conditions. The best mathematical model, which was able to describe the experimental data obtained without pH control, was the Contois model, as the specific growth rate was influenced by both the glucose reduction (from 14.31 g/L to 10.22 g/L) and the biomass production (2 log growth) that occurred during fermentation. Conversely, when pH control was implemented, both Monod and Contois models satisfactorily described the speci...
Background and objective: Consumer interests in probiotic foods have increased in recent decades.... more Background and objective: Consumer interests in probiotic foods have increased in recent decades. Food industries respond to these growing interests by developing innovative products and guaranteeing high production efficiency. Cereals, due to their prebiotic nature, are good fermentable substrates; from which, potentially functional foods could be achieved. The aim of this study was to verify effects of D-glucose addition on fermentation of rice, oat and wheat flours. Material and methods: Suspensions of 15% of cereals flours (rice, oat and wheat) in distilled water added with increasing glucose concentrations (2, 5, 7 and 10% w v -1 ) were fermented by Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 for 24 h. Then, pH, microbial growth and lactic acid production were assessed. Results and conclusion: Rice fermentation was not affected by glucose addition. For oat and wheat, addition of D-glucose increased bacterial concentration, as well as lactic acid production. In particular, the best growth w...
The concept of functional food has evolved throughout the years. These days we define a food to b... more The concept of functional food has evolved throughout the years. These days we define a food to be functional when it confers a benefit to human health. Lactic acid fermentation is one of the most important and used food processing technologies to produce this type of food. Fermentation of Lactobacillus Paracasei CBA L74 - a homofermentative, gram positive probiotic - on rice flour suspension has been proved to be a successful route to produce functional foods. However, the process was characterized by high energy consumption, low air sparging and complex expensive metabolite separation.A research program has been developed to carry out L. Paracasei fermentation using a low viscosity medium based on rice flour suspension. Fractionation of rice flour suspension provided a medium characterized by low amounts of solids and nutrients at concentration high that support the microorganism growth. Fermentations were carried in a 1L batch reactor equipped with an agitation systems designed t...
Celiac Disease (CD) is an autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation of the intestinal muco... more Celiac Disease (CD) is an autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation of the intestinal mucosa due to an immune response to wheat gliadins. It presents in subjects with genetic susceptibility (HLA-DQ2/DQ8 positivity and non-HLA genes) and under the influence of environmental triggers, such as viral infections and intestinal microbiota dysbiosis. The only treatment currently available in CD is a gluten-free diet for life. Despite this, the intestinal dysbiosis that is recorded in celiac subjects persists, even with adherence to dietary therapy. In this review, we have analyzed the literature over the past several decades, which have focused on the use of pro-, pre- and post-biotics in vitro and in vivo in CD. The study of probiotics and their products in CD could be interesting for observing their various effects on several different pathways, including anti-inflammatory properties.
Studies of the ability of probiotics to ferment cereal flours are necessary to obtain products wi... more Studies of the ability of probiotics to ferment cereal flours are necessary to obtain products with enhanced nutritional value. In this study, Lactobacillus paracasei CBA-L74 was used to ferment cereal aqueous mixtures containing both oat (7.5% w/v) and rice flours (7.5% w/v), with and without glucose, to understand whether glucose addition could have any effect on growth and metabolism. Viability, pH, metabolites production during fermentation (24 h, 37 C) and substrates reduction were analysed. The strain showed good growth in the cereal aqueous mixture both with and without glucose addition, but suspensions prepared with glucose showed the best results. A bacterial concentration of 7 log CFU mL À1 , a pH value of 4.70 and lactic acid production of 1250 mg L À1 were achieved when fermentation was performed without glucose addition, while in the presence of glucose, a t 24 bacterial growth of 8 log CFU mL À1 was reached, with a pH value of 3.11 and lactic acid production of 6050 mg L À1. Practical applications The aim of the present study was the fermentation of suspensions prepared by mixing equal parts of rice and oat flours with water to obtain a semi-finished product to use as a functional ingredient for the production of new dairy-or cereal-based products. Fermentation of single flours suspension was previously studied. By mixing two different flours, we wished to obtain semi-finished products with nutritional potentialities greater than those products obtained by fermenting single flours suspensions. In this sense, the role of glucose was also investigated.
The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2020
In recent years, scientific interest in the development of non‐dairy‐based functional foods is in... more In recent years, scientific interest in the development of non‐dairy‐based functional foods is increasing progressively and the fermentation of cereals, legumes, fruits and vegetable‐based foods is becoming an important scientific research topic for the production of new probiotic products. In particular, legumes represent a possible alternative to protein foods from animal origins and an adequate fermentation substrate as they contain high amount of nutrients, such as proteins, carbohydrates, fibres, vitamins, and minerals, which are all useful to the growth and metabolic activity of certain microorganisms. This work focuses on the feasibility of developing a dry legume‐based functional product using a fermentation process carried out on a 10% w/v navy bean suspension, in a lab‐scale stirred batch reactor. After soaking and cooking dried navy beans, the fermentation tests performed on the resulting medium using Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 showed a maximum bacterial count of 109...
International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 2019
Coeliac disease is an increasingly recognised pathology, induced by the ingestion of gluten in ge... more Coeliac disease is an increasingly recognised pathology, induced by the ingestion of gluten in genetically predisposed patients. Undigested gliadin peptide can induce adaptive and innate immune response that unleash the typical intestinal mucosal alterations. A growing attention is paid to alternative therapeutic approaches to the gluten-free diet: one of these approaches is the use of probiotics and/or postbiotics. We performed lactic fermentation of rice flour with and without pH control, using Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 as fermenting strain. We evaluated bacterial growth, lactic acid production during fermentation and gliadin peptide P31-43 entrance in CaCo-2 cells with and without pH control. When pH control was applied no differences were observed in terms of bacterial growth; on the contrary, lactic acid production was greater, as expected. Both samples could inhibit the P31-43 entrance in CaCo-2 cells but the effect was significantly greater for samples obtained when the pH control was applied.
Objective To evaluate the long-term validity and safety of pure oats in the treatment of children... more Objective To evaluate the long-term validity and safety of pure oats in the treatment of children with celiac disease. Study design This noninferiority clinical trial used a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design extended over 15 months. Three hundred six children with a biopsy-proven diagnosis of celiac disease on a glutenfree diet for ≥2 years were randomly assigned to eat specifically prepared gluten-free food containing an agedependent amount (15-40 g) of either placebo or purified nonreactive varieties of oats for 2 consecutive 6-month periods separated by washout standard gluten-free diet for 3 months. Clinical (body mass index, Gastrointestinal Symptoms Rating Scale score), serologic (IgA antitransglutaminase antibodies, and IgA anti-avenin antibodies), and intestinal permeability data were measured at baseline, and after 6, 9, and 15 months. Direct treatment effect was evaluated by a nonparametric approach using medians (95% CI) as summary statistic. Results After the exclusion of 129 patients who dropped out, the cohort included 177 children (79 in the oatsplacebo and 98 in the placebo-oats group; median, 0.004; 95% CI, −0.0002 to 0.0089). Direct treatment effect was not statistically significant for clinical, serologic, and intestinal permeability variables (body mass index:
Background In vivo assays cannot always be conducted because of ethical reasons, technical constr... more Background In vivo assays cannot always be conducted because of ethical reasons, technical constraints or costs, but a better understanding of the digestive process, especially in infants, could be of great help in preventing food-related pathologies and in developing new formulas with health benefits. In this context, in vitro dynamic systems to simulate human digestion and, in particular, infant digestion could become increasingly valuable. Objective To simulate the digestive process through the use of a dynamic model of the infant gastroenteric apparatus to study the digestibility of starch-based infant foods. Design Using M.I.D.A (Model of an Infant Digestive Apparatus), the oral, gastric and intestinal digestibility of two starch-based products were measured: 1) rice starch mixed with distilled water and treated using two different sterilization methods (the classical method with a holding temperature of 121˚C for 37 min and the HTST method with a holding temperature of 137˚C for 70 sec) and 2) a rice cream with (premium product) or without (basic product) an aliquot of rice flour fermented by Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74. After the digestion the foods were analyzed for the starch concentration, the amount of D-glucose released and the percentage of hydrolyzed starch. Results An in vitro dynamic system, which was referred to as M.I.D.A., was obtained. Using this system, the starch digestion occurred only during the oral and intestinal phase, as expected. The D-glucose released during the intestinal phase was different between the classical and HTST methods (0.795 grams for the HTST versus 0.512 for the classical product). The same analysis was performed for the basic and premium products. In this case, the premium PLOS ONE |
Background & aims: Safety and growth adequacy of infant formulae enriched by functional ingredien... more Background & aims: Safety and growth adequacy of infant formulae enriched by functional ingredients need stringent evaluation by means of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), therefore we performed a double-blind RCT to evaluate an infant formula enriched with galacto-oligosaccharides, beta-palmitate, and acidified milk vs. a standard infant formula. Methods: Weight, length, head circumference and fecal bacteria (Bifidobacteria, BIF/Clostridia, CLO) were measured in healthy full term infants, at baseline e as before 21 days of life e at 60 and 135 days thereafter. A group of 51 neonates received the enriched formula (ENR), 59 the standard one (ST). Parents were trained to daily register gastrointestinal diseases. Results: All the infants grew homogeneously increasing the anthropometric parameters and complying with WHO and Italian standards: the mean (SD) difference in daily weight between ENR and ST groups was À0.74 (1.13) g/day, corresponding to a 90% CI of À2.62 to 1.13 g/day, well within the postulated interval of equivalence of À3.9 to þ3.9 g/day. A statistical improvement in BIF concentration in the microbiota of infants fed by ENR was recorded. There was no between-group change in log 10 CLO, but log 10 BIF increase was higher at T2 vs. T0 in ENR (treatment  time interaction ¼ 0.71, 95% CI 0.08e1.34, p ¼ 0.028) than in ST neonates. This corresponds to estimated mean (95% CI) values of 8.37 (8.04e8.69) log 10-units for ENR vs. 8.08 (7.77e8.39) log 10-units for ST neonates. Gastrointestinal effects were mild and similar, with no statistical difference between two groups. Conclusion: Safety and growth ability of the enriched formula has been confirmed. A positive effect on neonatal gut microbiota, consisting of increased fecal BIF counts at T2 vs. baseline has been shown too. Nonetheless, larger RCTs are needed to estimate with greater precision the effective potential attributable to the enriched formula on neonatal microbiota, with particular reference to the mode of delivery.
International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 2014
Several recent reports describe a role of probiotics as a therapeutic approach for celiac disease... more Several recent reports describe a role of probiotics as a therapeutic approach for celiac disease (CD). Two undigested A-gliadin peptides, P31-43 and P57-68, are central to CD pathogenesis, inducing an innate and an adaptive immune response, respectively. They enter enterocytes and localize to vesicular compartment to induce their toxic/immunogenics effects. In this article, we tested the effect of probiotic Lactobacillus paracasei (LP) CBA L74 (International Depository Accession Number LMG P-24778), its supernatant and LP-fermented cereals on gliadin peptides, P31-43 and P57-68, entrance in Caco-2 cells. Both LP CBA L74 and its supernatant inhibit P31-43 (intensity of fluorescence; FI: 75%) and P57-68 (FI: 50%) entrance in Caco2 cells, indicating that this biological effect is due to some product included in LP CBA L74 supernatant. This effect was present also after fermentation of cereals. This study describes a novel effect of probiotics in the prevention of undigested gliadin peptides toxic effects.
The rapid expansion of commercially available fermented food products raises important safety iss... more The rapid expansion of commercially available fermented food products raises important safety issues particularly when infant food is concerned. In many cases, the activity of the microorganisms used for fermentation as well as what will be the immunological outcome of fermented food intake is not known. In this manuscript we used complex in vitro, ex-vivo and in vivo systems to study the immunomodulatory properties of probiotic-fermented products (culture supernatant and fermented milk without live bacteria to be used in infant formula). We found in vitro and ex-vivo that fermented products of Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 act via the inhibition of proinflammatory cytokine release leaving anti-inflammatory cytokines either unaffected or even increased in response to Salmonella typhimurium. These activities are not dependent on the inactivated bacteria but to metabolic products released during the fermentation process. We also show that our in vitro systems are predictive of an in vivo efficacy by the fermented products. Indeed CBA L74 fermented products (both culture medium and fermented milk) could protect against colitis and against an enteric pathogen infection (Salmonella typhimurium). Hence we found that fermented products can act via the inhibition of immune cell inflammation and can protect the host from pathobionts and enteric pathogens. These results open new perspectives in infant nutrition and suggest that L. paracasei CBA L74 fermented formula can provide immune benefits to formula-fed infants, without carrying live bacteria that may be potentially dangerous to an immature infant immune system.
the usefulness of this parameter. Results: The prevalence rate of MS was 13.07% (105 pts). Childr... more the usefulness of this parameter. Results: The prevalence rate of MS was 13.07% (105 pts). Children with MS had mean WHtR of 0.65 ± 0.09. Children without MS presented mean WHtR of 0.62 ± 0.06, this difference was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The Area Under ROC curve (AUC) was 0.690 for WCHtr (CI 95%: 0.637-0.743, p < 0.001) in detecting MS. WHtr cutoff value equal to 0.62 showed a sensibility of 76.3% and a specificity of 56% in identifying obese children affected by MS. Conclusions: WHtR is strongly related to MS and it seems to be a simple, non invasive and practical tool in detecting Paediatric MS: a cutoff value of 0.62 should suggest second-level examinations.
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Papers by Andrea Budelli