Evaluation of Acha (Digitaria exilis) Grain Fermented with Lactobacillus Species as a Probiotic Food

Aims: This study assess the effect of the fermented Acha samples in-vivo using apparently healthy and infected laboratory animals.

Study Design: Acha was fermented in two forms (Local fermentation and controlled fermentation).

Place and Duration of Study: Sample: Department of Medicine (Medical Unit IV) and Department of Radiology, Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS), Services Hospital Lahore, between June 2009 and July 2010.

Methodology: Acha was weighed into a fermenting container of 100 g and water of 1 litre was added to submerge it for 72 hours in the ratio 1:3. Microbial, proximate and mineral analysis was carried on all the samples. For 21 days, all fermented samples were used to feed rats infected with Escherichia coli and Shigella dysenteriae except for the control for in vivo study and evaluated for their probiotic potential. Also, hematological study and histopathology analysis were carried out on the small and large intestine of the Albino rats that was fed with the fermented samples. The various fermented samples were freeze dried to retain the organisms used for the fermentation.

Results: Haematological study (PCV, WBC, RBC, Platelets, haemoglobin and differential leucocytes) and histopathology analysis (small intestine and large intestine) of rats from all experimental groups showed that Acha fermented with Lactobacillus acidophilus was able to rebuild shrinked and ruptured cells on the mucosal lining of the walls of the intestines.

Conclusion: Acha fermented with Lactobacillus acidophilus was observed to have the best results on the weight of rats, white blood cell count, red blood cell count and probiotic effect on the intestine of the rats fed with it.