Access Type

Open Access Thesis

Date of Award

January 2017

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S.

Department

Nutrition and Food Science

First Advisor

Kequan Zhou

Abstract

Obesity and diabetes is an epidemic of increasing concern. Certain novel bacteria have been found to be an aid in reversing some of the mechanisms associated. This study focused on investigating the optimal stability conditions for R.intestinalis that can associate with an increase in growth. First, environmental conditions were tested to find the optimal conditions associated with each. Once growth conditions were found, generation time was calculated and various prebiotics were used to investigate a potential for additional growth. Next, common antibiotics were tested to see if the R.intestinalis could still show growth when exposed. Large batches of R.intestinalis were grown and freeze dried for storage and further experimental purposes. The freeze-dried R.intestinalis was encapsulated and reconstituted to check for viability. Finding the optimal conditions for growing R.intestinalis and using the encapsulation technique to protect the R.intestinalis from unfavorable environmental conditions could lead to the potential for R.intestinalis to become a probiotic that could help people suffering from adverse GI diseases and symptoms as well as decrease GSIS due to excess acetate.

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