The Utilization of Cereals in Various Stages of Refinement by an Oral Strain of Lactobacillus Acidophilus

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Abstract
A study of the utilization of 17 cereal fractions and glucose by an oral strain of the L. acidophilus in a chemically defined synthetic medium shows the following: An external source of some form of amylase is required for the maximal utilization of cereals by the oral L. acidophilus. Under the conditions of this study, neither the cereal fractions nor the test organism, in the amts. used, contained amylase in amts. sufficient to promote the breakdown of polysaccharides. An external source of nicotinic acid and thiamin is required for the maximum utilization of cereals by the oral L. acidophilus. Several fractions derived from corn and wheat, comprising the germ or pericarp of the grain, were utilized to a slight extent by the test organism when nicotinic acid and thiamin were withheld from the synthetic medium. Presumably this indicates that the germ and pericarp of these grains, the portion richest in vitamin B content, contain nicotinic acid and thiamin in amts. sufficient to promote minimal growth of this organism. In the presence of an amylase and of adequate amts. of essential members of the B group of vitamins, the degree of acid production was, for the most part, directly related to the degree of refinement of the cereal grain.