A microbiology investigation on probiotic pharmaceutical products used for human health

Many and different probiotic pharmaceutical products are presently commercialised in the world. On this regard, a microbiological investigation was carried out to screen the microorganisms incorporated into these products, commonly used for human health. After determination of the cell number and viability of bacteria, several experiments were performed in vitro in order to characterise the microorganisms and to evaluate their probiotic value. Among all the strains identified, best results were obtained with Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Enterococcus faecium and Saccharomyces cerevisiae as far as regards growth rates, pH and bile salts tolerance. Moreover, the identification profiles of microorganisms showed a better reliability for the products containing a single species whereas the ones composed of different strains were usually not satisfactory. In some cases, the presence of Lactobacillus and Saccharomyces species was in disagreement with the claimed composition of the product and some species of lactobacilli, bifidobacteria and streptococci were found not viable. In defined mixed cultures experiments, the antagonism of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Enterococcus faecium versus Yersinia enterocolitica was demonstrated and explained as acid and/or antimicrobials production.