Evaluation of in vitro and in vivo prebiotic activity of seabuckthorn products on strains: Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum

The various seabuckthorn products were developed and tested for its prebiotic effect under in vitro and in vivo experimental conditions using probiotics viz., Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum. For assessing efficacy of prebiotic activity by in vitro, seabuckthorn products were incorporated at different concentrations viz., 0%, 12.5% and 25% using reconstituted skimmed milk as a culture media. For evaluating prebiotic activity by in vivo, rats were fed with various seabuckthorn products for a period of one month. The analysis shows that products found to possess prebiotic component of dietary fibres. The in vitro result shows that the products exhibited more prebiotic activity at incorporation level of 25%, when compared to commercial prebiotic product honey. The in vivo results shows that probiotic counts were significantly higher in colon and feces for pulp fed group, when compared to control group thereby exerting prebiotic activity.