Gos pre-conditioning l. reuteri and gos in final formulation

Abstract

The invention herein relates generally to enhancing the survival and activity of probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri strains in mammals by pre-conditioning L. reuteri with GOS during cultivation and to a surprisingly high symbiotic effect of such a pre-conditioned probiotic L. reuteri strain when administered together with GOS further added in the composition. The invention therefore comprises methods for cultivating and manufacturing probiotic L. reuteri strains, and preparing products containing such pre-conditioned strains in combination with additional amounts of GOS. In more detail the present invention relates to a probiotic composition comprising a probiotic L. reuteri strain, obtained by a step of growing the bacteria in a medium comprising GOS, and administering the pre-conditioned bacteria together with further GOS in the final product. The inventors have found that such method induces surprisingly high and unexpected symbiotic beneficial effects of the probiotic bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract. The probiotic composition also induces an increased calcium and iron solubility.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.