Profile of an Emergent Probiotic Bacteria: Lactobacillus helveticus
Flavio Tidona *
Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Center for Zootechnics and Aquaculture (CREA-ZA), Italy
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Lactobacillus helveticus is generally found as dominant species in the whey starter culture of many cooked long ripened cheeses, thanks to a perfect adaptation in the dairy environment. Recent bioinformatics studies and phenotypic tests highlighted traits of Lactobacillus helveticus in common with those related to gut bacteria. The ability to produce fermented foods with health-promoting properties is also of great importance as it could be exploited to produce new products with added biological value. Moreover, some strains of Lactobacillus helveticus are being investigated as probiotic candidates for food products in compliance with the updated EU regulations which are applied on a food label. Any nutritional claim requested by a company is individually evaluated by the competent authority and authorized after substantial scientific evidences.
Keywords: Cheese technology, gut adaptation, probiotics, health-promoting