Aim: To investigate the effect of Woodfordia fruticosa extract (WfE) on two probiotic bacteria: Lacticaseibacillus casei and Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus.
Methods and results: WfE supplementation at 0·5 and 1 mg ml-1 stimulated probiotic growth (P < 0·05), enhanced adhesion to CaCO2 cells (P < 0·05) while inhibiting foodborne pathogens Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus (P < 0·05). 1 H-NMR based metabolomic studies indicated higher glucose : lactate and glucose : acetate in the extracellular matrix with significant variation (P < 0·05) in intracellular concentrations of lactate, acetate, glutamate, dimethylamine, phenylalanine, branched-chain amino acids and total cellular lipid composition. Fatty acid methyl ester analysis showed a chemical shift from saturated to unsaturated lipids with WfE supplementation. PCA plots indicated clear discrimination between test groups, highlighting variation in metabolite pool in response to WfE supplementation.
Conclusion: Phytonutrient-rich WfE exhibited prebiotic-like attributes, and probiotic bacteria showed altered metabolite pools as an adaptive mechanism.
Significance and impact of the study: This is the first report providing insights into the prebiotic-like activity of WfE on gut representative probiotics. The extended metabolomic studies shed light on the positive interaction between phytonutrients and beneficial bacteria that possibly help them to adapt to a phytonutrient-rich WfE environment. WfE with potential prebiotic attributes can be used in the development of novel synbiotic functional products targeting gut microbial modulation to improve health.
Keywords: Woodfordia fruticosa; 1H-NMR metabolomics; phytonutrients; prebiotics; probiotics.
© 2021 The Society for Applied Microbiology.