Effect of Fruit Pectin on Growth of Lactic Acid Bacteria

The concept of modulating gut health through diet is not new and dates back to at least the beginning of the 20th century. However, it is only recently that sound scientific rationales have been proposed and investigated. Three microflora modulation tools have emerged, the addition of exogenous living microorganisms to foods (i.e., probiotics), the selective stimulation of the growth and activity of beneficial microorganisms indigenous to the gut (i.e., prebiotics), and a combination of both approaches (i.e., synbiotics). Fruit wastes which are highly perishable and seasonal, is a problem to the processing industries and pollution monitoring agencies. A valuable byproduct that can be obtained from fruit wastes is pectin. An effort was taken to extract pectin from different fruit waste (Musa sp. and Citrus limetta and rind of Citrullus lanatus and putrefied fruits of Solanum lycopersicum and Psidium guajava). An attempt was made to observe the enhancement of growth of Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB-Lactobacillus casei, L. acidophilus, Bifidobacterium bifidum) by introducing the pectin samples from the above fruit waste. It was observed that pectin was able to enhance the growth of the bacteria and the titrable acidity considerably. Hence it can be concluded that pectin that is extracted from fruit waste can be used to enhance the growth of LAB. The current study aims to prove pectin as a potential prebiotic.