Safety and Functional Evaluation of Probiotics
The development of novel probiotic products often requires the constant search for new species as well as more specific strains of probiotics for their functions. Food or therapeutic products to which new strains have been added need to be carefully evaluated for efficacy and safety.
Creative Enzymes' R&D service platform allows us to provide our clients with complete safety and functional evaluation services for probiotic products.
Fig. 1 Safety and functional evaluation of probiotics.
The Importance of Probiotic Safety and Functional Evaluation
Probiotics are widely used worldwide in food, nutraceuticals and therapeutic products and are considered to be "generally safe". Commonly used probiotics such as Bifidobacterium and Lactobacilli are considered to be part of a healthy human intestinal flora and are not harmful to the host. Nevertheless, the safety of probiotics still needs to be taken seriously, especially those new probiotic strains that do not have a long history of safe use, and those whose genera cannot guarantee their safety for administration.
Researches have shown that four types of side effects may be associated with probiotics:
- Systemic infections.
- Risk of harmful metabolic activities.
- Risk of ancillary side effects and immunomodulation.
- Risk of gene transfer.
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Identification of Strains
Efficient and accurate identification of strains is the first step in the safety assessment of probiotics. Creative Enzyme uses a variety of identification tools and combines taxonomic methods to analyze and identify the strains used in probiotic products, helping customers to better define the composition and characteristics of the strains in probiotic products.
The strategies we offer for strain identification include:
| Physiological and biochemical methods | Molecular biology methods |
|---|---|
| Automated identification system | Fluorescence spectrometry |
In Vitro Evaluation Methods
In vitro evaluation of probiotics focuses on the essential properties of the strains. In vitro evaluation is mandatory for probiotic products that are edible or have therapeutic efficacy. Creative Enzymes offers a variety of in vitro evaluation methods that can be used for probiotic products to assess a wide range of factors that can affect the safety of probiotics.
| Probiotics antibiotic resistance test | Detection of pathogenic genes and production of toxic metabolites |
|---|---|
| Probiotic adhesion test to host tissues | Platelet agglutination test |
| Hemolysis test | Resistance of probiotics to host defense mechanisms |
| Bile salt degradation test | Test of gastrointestinal mucosal proteolytic ability |
In vivo Evaluation Methods
In vivo evaluation of probiotics is a complex process that usually requires in vivo testing with the help of animal models. Creative Enzymes conducts scientific evaluations of probiotics based on multiple animal models in terms of toxicology, translocation potential, and effects on seriously ill or immunocompromised hosts to help clients better assess the safety of probiotics.
Clinical Trial Assessment
The results of clinical trials are the strongest evidence to assess the safety of probiotics. Creative Enzymes is actively pioneering clinical trials of probiotic products to help clients better understand the clinical effects of probiotics and provide clinical evidence of safety.
Creative Enzymes is a professional and experienced probiotic supplier and service provider. We provide professional and customized solutions for our clients' probiotic safety assessment. To get more information, please contact us or fill out the online inquiry below, we will be happy to serve your research demands.
