Proliferation of Bifidobacterium L80 under different proportions of milk protein hydrolysate

The intestinal microecological environment is critical to an infant's growth. For those infants consuming milk power, it is very important to improve the intestinal microecological environment to promote the healthy growth of infants. In this paper, Milk protein hydrolysate (MPH), consisting of different proportions of proteins and small molecule peptides (5:5, 4:6, 3:7, 2:8, 1:9) were added to infant formula powder (IFP). The effects of MFP-enriched IFP addition on proliferation and metabolism of Bifidobacterium L80 were studied. Compared with MPH-free IFP, MFP-enriched IFP with 1:9 of proteins to small molecule peptides significantly enhanced the proliferation of Bifidobacterium L80, resulting in higher cell density, greater viable counts and higher titratable acidity. MFP-enriched IFP increased the content of seven organic acids and H₂O₂ in the system, and improved the antibacterial activity to E. coli BL21. This study suggested that MPH could be an effective addition to infant formula powder to promote the growth of Bifidobacterium, so to improve the intestinal health of infants.