Case Study: Probiotic Enumeration of Blends Consisting of Strains from Multiple Manufacturers
Author: Andrzej Benkowski of Eurofins Microbiology Laboratories, Inc. (Madison, WI)
The Challenge
A client has been using the same strain manufacturer for their probiotic blend of Lactobacilli for a number of years and has obtained consistent potency results applying the manufacturer’s enumeration method. They recently decided to adjust their formula to include some other well-known strains including a few species of Bifidobacterium, a Streptococcus thermophilus strain, and the probiotic yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii, but wanted to source these strains from a different supplier. The client came to us with concerns about which method to select since each manufacturer had their own enumeration protocol.
Our Approach
Our team suggested using one of our internally developed and fully validated enumeration methods for probiotic lactic acid bacteria and yeast. The first option was to enumerate the total amount of lactic acid bacteria using our internally validated method for lactic acid bacteria in conjunction with our validated total Saccharomyces boulardii enumeration method and sum the results to obtain the total probiotic count. Their other option was to enumerate selectively by genus using our internally developed and validated assays for a total Bifidobacteria count, a total Lactobacilli count, a count for Streptococcus thermophilus as well as a count for Saccharomyces boulardii.
The Solution
We ended up trying the total lactic acid bacteria count together with a total yeast count. When the methods were applied to the new blend, the recovery was consistent with the expectations of the client. Going forward, the client was confident in what to do for future similar scenarios.
Our Team
Eurofins Microbiology Laboratories, Inc. in Madison, WI is our Center of Excellence to support probiotics and has the necessary expertise and capabilities to individually evaluate each product and ensure we are preparing the samples for accurate identification, enumeration, or contamination. We actively work with probiotic suppliers to become qualified to run their strain-specific enumeration procedures and offer them to our joint customers.
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