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Lactobacillus F19 Technical Information
F19: An Overview Summary |
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The Lactobacillus F19 information
presented herein represents more than 15 years of research and
documentation. F19 was initially identified as a Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei. It was isolated from the
small intestine of a healthy human and is naturally present in 2% of
human fecal samples. Lactobacillus
F19 is a robust strain with excellent survivability in many different
types of foods. It can grow in the presence of 0.5% bile salts without
deconjugating the bile salts. It is moderately resistant to low pH and
gastric juice, but that resistance
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markedly improved by the presence of milk protein. Thus, F19 can survive the proximal GI tract, enabling it to colonize the lower gut. Lactobacillus F19 is well tolerated by infants, adults, and the elderly. It colonizes the colon and it increases the level of other lactic acid-producing bacteria (LAB) in the GI microflora. It has been shown to increase the concentrations of L-lactic acid and other short chain fatty acids in the colon. For these reasons, Lactobacillus F19 is an excellent, versatile probiotic culture for almost any functional food. |
| Isolation
and Development of F19 Probiotic Culture |
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| Lactobacillus F19 was selected as
the most promising isolate after evaluating hundreds of strains (Ljungh
et al, 2002). Several selection criteria were used in the
evaluation process. First, it was required that the isolate be of human
origin to ensure adaptation to the human GI tract. It was also critical
that the isolate was resistant to gastric juice and bile acids in order
to bypass the stomach and colonize the gut. It was important that the
strain adhered to the mucosal cells of the GI tract, in order to
colonize the gut and positively impact the gut microflora. The last
selection criterion was its ability to survive in foods, allowing the
production of functional foods. Although Lactobacillus F19 was first isolated from the small intestine of a healthy woman in the late 1980's, natural isolates of the strain have been found elsewhere. It has been re-isolated from infants, adults, and the  |
elderly in roughly 2% of
the fecal samples tested from individuals not receiving Lactobacillus probiotics. It is
also a common food Lactobacillus,
isolated from yellow cheese manufactured from both raw and pasteurized
milks. Lactobacillus F19 has been identified as Lactobacilllus paracasei subsp. paracasei using SDS-PAGE protein patterns and cluster analysis at LMG Gent. A 16S-rRNA probeis available for an accurate identification of the strain (Helig et al, 2002). Other methods, RAPD and FTIR, were also used for identification of F19 (Björneholm et al, 2002). Lactobacillus F19 is genetically very stable. Assessment of the genetic stability of strains reproduced on numerous industrial scales is important in order to provide consumers with a stable product. Lactobacillus F19 has been thoroughly investigated and found to have that stability (Morelli and Campominosi, 2002). The strain has the antibiotic resistance pattern characteristic for a Lactobacillus species and no antibiotic resistance is connected to any of its plasmids. Considerable safety testing has been conducted with Lactobacillus F19. One hundred and nine human volunteers have participated in multiple clinical trials involving human infants, healthy adults, and the elderly. In all cases, Lactobacillus F19 was well tolerated by the individuals involved in the studies. |
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