Assessment of multi-strain probiotic exhibiting in vitro cholesterol-lowering, antioxidative and lipolytic properties

Various studies have been conducted reporting the hypocholesterolemic effect of individual probiotic strains while only a few such reports are available on multi-strain probiotic formulation. In this study, 23 indigenous isolated probiotics were used to formulate multi-strain probiotic consortium after evaluating their co-culture potential. The study evaluated the antioxidant, lipolytic, hypocholesterolemic, and synergistic attributes of probiotic isolates for selection of the be compatible strains for effective consortium formulation. Limosilactobacillus fermentum BAB 7912 showed the highest antioxidant activity (30.22% DPPH radical reduction potential and 87.21% ABTS radical scavenging potential) among strains growing synergistically. The other strain of the final consortium Bacillus rugosus PIC5CR had the highest ferric reducing antioxidant potential (81.45%). Another probiotic isolate Bacillus rugosus PIB9CR was able to produce highest quantity of p -nitrophenol (272.61 ± 0.54 µM/15 min) as determined by p -nitrophenyl acetate method, indicating the higher lipolytic activity for both whole-cells and cell free supernatant (CFS). Hence, the multi-strain probiotic consortium consisting of these three strains was formulated that showed the significant cholesterol reductions potential (70.07% after 24 hours and 74.77% after 48 hours) which was higher than any of the single isolates used in this study. The strains and probiotic consortium demonstrated satisfactory cholesterol reduction and lipolytic activity, with isolates having higher co-culture attributes. Further investigation is needed to determine their viability as well as efficacy in an in-vivo model.