Effects of Hericium erinaceus Polysaccharides on the Growth of Gastrointestinal Probiotics

Gastrointestinal probiotics can promote food digestion and nutritional absorption,improve intestinal microecological balance,and enhance the body's immunity and so on. In this study,in order to determine the effect of polysaccharide from Hericium erinaceus on the growth of gastrointestinal probiotics,the growth of Lactobacillus bulgaricus,Bifidobacterium adolescentis and Streptococcus thermophilus were determined by adding 0.3%,0.5% and 0.7% of polysaccharide from H. erinaceus to the culture medium by tablet count method. Then,the effects of polysaccharide from the H. erinaceus on the growth of these three kinds of bacteria in the simulated environment of gastrointestinal tract were analyzed by simulating the human stomach and intestinal environment in vitro. The results showed that the growth of L. bulgaricus and B. adolescentis could be significantly promoted with the increase of polysaccharide content from H. erinaceus compared with the control medium(P<0.05),and the effect of proliferation of 0.7% polysaccharide from H. erinaceus was the most obvious. The growth of S. thermophilus slowed down with the gradual increase in the content of polysaccharide from H. erinaceus,and the maximum promotion reached when adding 0.5% polysaccharide from H. erinaceus. The addition of 7% of the polysaccharide from H. erinaceus can significantly increase the tolerance of L. bulgaricus to gastric and intestinal fluids(P<0.05),enhances the tolerance of B. adolescentis to intestinal fluid,and significantly enhances the tolerance of S. thermophilus to intestinal fluid(P<0.05). Therefore,the content(0.3%~0.5%)of polysaccharide from H. erinaceus can promote the growth of probiotics of the gastrointestinal tract and the 7% content of it can improve the resistance of probiotics to gastrointestinal digestive juice.