Team:Uppsala/LactonutritiousWorld

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Grow them anywhere, on almost anything

Our lactonutritious bacteria will be grown all over the world, using different substrates depending on local prerequisites and preferences. Even biowaste could be used as a medium to produce freeze-dried modified lactobacillus. These can then be used in fermenting food resulting in nutrient-rich products that are tailor-made to fit the needs of the region. We like to call these plus foods and examples are Yoghurt+, Soy Sauce+ and Jalapeño+.

Yoghurt+

In the northern parts of Europe yoghurt is a staple in the morning routin. Since Europe is well developed our product shifts in focus compared to malnutrious parts of the world. The main health concerns are elderly diseases. Therefore we provide antioxidants in the daily yoghurt. Our yoghurt also contains resveratrol that is said to increase the lifespan. The yoghurt is made by inserting freeze dried bacteria or previous yoghurt to milk. The bacteria is then allowed to incubate for a couple of hours.[1]

Garri+

In Africa many traditional fermented foods remain the main source of nutrition for many rural communities.

In west Africa nearly 200 million people consume a food called Garri made from the fermentation of the cassava root. The most common isolated species used in this fermentation process is Lactobacillus plantarum[2]. By using modified bacteria in this process we could nutritionally enrich food in a region that today suffers a lot from hunger and malnutrition.

Nutritious+

In some environments it would be preferable to have probiotic products that do not need to be refrigerated and can be stored at higher temperatures. An available method for making dry micronutrient powder that contains bacteria is freeze drying. By using this method we can produce beneficial nutrients from local bio waste directly at site, instead of importing blended food from around the world. We can thereby produce our probiotics cheap and environmental friendly where they are needed.[3][4]

Freeze drying - The method

  • Grow your bacteria on a nutritional medium (like bio waste).
  • Harvest the bacteria by centrifugation.
  • Add cryoprotectants to protect the cells during the freezing.
  • Freeze your bacteria at high pressure, by for example gradually increasing temperature.
  • Dehydrate the bacteria.
  • Soy-Sauce+

    Due to the lack of dairy diet in large parts of Asia we would not be able to grow our bacteria in yoghurt. Therefore we searched for a growth medium commonly grown and consumed. Our choice was soy sauce that comes from the soybean which is a big source of protein and widely consumed both fermented and unfermented. Lactobacillus is normally added to some soy products such as yoghurt made of soy. Adding Lactobacillus will ferment the food in which it is present which is a common way to prepare food. This occurs if a suitable sugar is present. Because of the fermenting effect of Lactobacillus it can be used in several soy products. Soy has been shown to be a media that works for Lactobacillus where it can grow and is a good substitute for our yoghurt.[5]

    Jalapeño+

    Jalapeños are popular chili fruits originating from Mexico. Unlike many other chilis they are most often picked while still green before they turn red. One of the ways to extend the shelf-life of jalapeños is to ferment them with lactobacillus (pickling) [6]. The bacteria produce acid from the sugars in the plant keeping other microbes away and conserves the chili. Jalapeños are healthy containg a lot of vitamin C and some vitamin A. By fermenting them with our modified Lactonutritious bacteria they can become superfood deserving the title Jalapeño+.

    [1] Yogurt as probiotic carrier food, A Lourens-Hattingh, BC Viljoen - International Dairy Journal - Elsevier, Volume 11, Issues 1–2, January 2001, Pages 1–17

    [2]http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/jmf.2008.0163 [3] M Saarela et al,Influence of fermentation time, cryoprotectant and neutralization of cell concentrate on freeze-drying survival, storage stability, and acid and bile exposure of Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis cells produced without milk-based ingredients, Journal of applied microbiology

    [4] Probst M, Fritschi A, et al, Biowaste: A Lactobacillus habitat and lactic acid fermentation substrate Bioresource Technology, Volume 143, September 2013, Pages 647–652

    [5] Subrota Hati, Shilpa Vij, et al, α-Galactosidase Activity and Oligosaccharides Utilization by Lactobacilli during Fermentation of Soy Milk, Article first published online: 9 jan 2013

    [6] Handbook of Vegetable Preservation and Processing. pg.179-188. Y. H. Hui, Sue Ghazala, Dee M. Graham, K.D. Murrell, Wai-Kit Nip. CRC Press. 12 sep 2003