http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/services/Feed ${session.getAttribute("locale")} 5 http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:11285 The effects of the probiotic, Propionibacterium jensenii 702 (PJ 702), supplementation on egg productivity, egg shell thickness, fatty acid profile of eggs, and body weight in early layer hens were investigated. Twenty eight twenty-week-old starter pullets were evenly divided into a treatment and a control group for an eight week experiment. Each bird in the treatment group received 10⁷ cfu PJ 702 daily in a total volume of 1 ml by oral administration. No adverse effect was observed due to administration of PJ 702, and successful gastrointestinal transit in the bird was demonstrated by recovery of PJ 702 from faeces of the treatment group. Layer production was significantly improved by the supplementation of PJ 702. Total egg weight in the treatment group was significantly higher than the control (P<0.001). Average egg weight for the treatment group was 55.26 g, 4.2% higher than the control which averaged 53.02 g. Moreover, the fatty acid profile was significantly altered by the supplementation of PJ 702. Myristic acid (P<0.001), palmitoleic acid (P=0.001) and all-cis-11,14-eicosadienoic acid (P=0.02) were significantly lower in the treatment group compared to the control group. No difference in egg shell thickness was observed between the treatment and control group (P=0.23). In conclusion, the application of novel probiotic PJ 702 in the early layer hen is safe and effective to promote production and the quality of products in layer husbandry. 2012-08-15T01:07:42.696Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:10762 Foods are carriers for the delivery of probiotics to the human body. In addition, foods help to buffer the probiotic through the gastrointestinal tract, regulate their colonization and contain other functional ingredients, such as bioactive components, which may interact with probiotics to alter their functionality and efficacy. The growth and survival of probiotics during gastric transit is affected by the physico-chemical properties of food carriers. Gastric acid, juices and bile tolerance, adherence to gastrointestinal epithelium and the acid production of probiotics are also affected by the food ingredients used in probiotic delivery. Same probiotic strains could vary in functional and technological properties in the presence of different food ingredients. Prebiotic food ingredients encourage the growth of probiotic bacteria. The appropriate combination of prebiotics and probiotics manifest higher potential for a synergistic effect. Originally, probiotic delivery was consistently associated with foods, particularly dairy foods. But nowadays, there is an increasing trend toward using probiotics in different food systems despite its original sources and even as nutraceuticals, such as in capsules. This changing trend in delivering probiotics may lead to a reduction in functional efficacy due to the exclusion of the potential synergistic effect of the food. Thus, selection of suitable food systems to deliver probiotics is a vital factor that should be considered in developing functional probiotic foods. This review focuses on information related to the effect of processed food products on functional efficacy of probiotics. 2012-05-08T01:30:04.097Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:8417 Metabolic Cell Support (MC-S), now manufactured by Clinical Health Pty Ltd, is an over the counter immune supplement developed in Australia. Rather than using individual bioactive chemicals, a combined highly standardised multipolysaccharide enriched mix of medicinal mushrooms, the herb Astragalus mebranasis and ascorbic acid was formulated so as not to exclude important components of the original herb that may play a role in clinical outcomes. To examine the potential effect of MC-S on cancer, an in vitro proliferation study using diverse types of cancer cell lines was undertaken. Breast (MCF-7), prostate (DU145), melanoma (MM200) and colon (HT29) cancer cells were cultured under controlled standard conditions in the presence of MC-S at varying doses. After 48 and 72 hours of incubation, proliferation was measured using CellTiter 96 AQueous Non-Radioactive Cell proliferation assay kit. Results MC-S significantly inhibited the growth of breast, prostate, melanoma and bowl cancer cells, over a broad range of doses. Conclusions MC-S in this study was shown to inhibit cancer cell growth. This result, along with previous studies identifying immune stimulation properties, suggests that MC-S may offer additional benefit to standard cancer therapies. 2011-07-21T02:40:09.325Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:8253 Naturally fermented and raw foods contain a range of organisms that may have benefit as additives in some foods and food processing. In particular, potential antifungal properties of these organisms may be potentially utilised as natural alternatives to chemical additives used to delay and prevent spoilage by fungi and yeast. This study examined 12 novel bacteria previously isolated from food as possible biopreservatives. The bacteria from the lactobacilli and dairy propionibacterium groups were tested by agar overlay method for their ability to inhibit the growth of 10 fungi and one yeast commonly associated with food contamination. Eight among eleven tested lactic acid bacteria demonstrated broad spectrum of antifungal activity. Strong fungi inhibition was also demonstrated by the dairy propionibacterium, but efficacy was growth medium dependant. Only one fungi, Geotrichum candidum was highly resistant to the bacteria. Variation between the inhibition results for different bacteria identifies the importance of careful strain selection, and the benefits of strain combinations when selecting biopreservatives for foods. 2011-07-14T02:40:06.646Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:7881 Neonatal stress is a common early life event which alters the development of the endocrine and immune systems. Specifically, exposure to neonatal stress results in alterations to the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis resulting in offspring who hyper-respond to stress in adulthood. Recently, this concept has been applied to the ontogeny of functional gastrointestinal (GI) disturbances such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The high prevalence of this disorder and the ineffectiveness of current treatments results in high direct and indirect costs to the society. Recently, administration of probiotics to neonates has been used as a safe and cost-effective preventative strategy to revoke the long term unfavourable imprinting induced on the gastrointestinal system by early life stressors in animal models of human IBS. It is not as yet known however, whether maternal supplementary probiotics may also contribute to improved GI integrity and gut-associated immune functioning in stressed neonates, if these possible improvements persist into adulthood, or how this protective effect may be mediated. Our hypothesis is an attempt to link this proposed nutritional approach and its possible preventive effects against GI dysfunctions provoked by neonatal stress. 2011-06-15T23:40:24.546Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:1825 Aims: The purposes of this study were to screen the adhesion properties of dairy propionibacteria strains and evaluate whether C2BBe1 could be used in the screening of potential probiotic strains. Methods and Results: Thirteen dairy propionibacteria strains and two control strains, Lactobacillus acidophilus MJLA1 and Bifidobacterium lactis BDBB2, were tested for adhesion to C2BBe1. Electron microscopic observations demonstrated that the control strains, L. acidophilus MJLA1 and B. lactis BDBB2, had similar adhesive ability to C2BBe1 as had been previously shown to Caco-2. Only one of the 13 strains of dairy propionibacteria, strain P. jensenii 702, demonstrated adhesion to C2BBe1. Conclusions: C2BBe1 can provide an alternative to Caco-2 for assessing in vitro adhesion properties of probiotic strains. Adhesion properties of dairy propionibacteria were strain-dependent. Significance and Impact of the Study:C2BBe1 is highly suitable for application in bacterial adhesion studies, and was used successfully to select a new potential probiotic. 2010-04-27T06:36:16.423Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:2902 2010-04-27T06:21:35.289Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:4960 Aim: To confirm the reliability and sensitivity of Salmonella testing of processed poultry in Australia. Methods and Results: The detection of Salmonella in a whole carcass wash of 90 randomly selected processed broilers was compared using the Australian Standard method, an Australian industry method used by a major processor and the United States Department of Agriculture method published in the Federal Register. The sensitivity of each method was determined using a carcass wash containing a known number of Salmonella Typhimurium to determine the minimum concentration to be able to be identified as positive. The two Australian methods were found to be comparable with both the Australian methods detecting more positive carcasses than the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) method. The Australian methods were sensitive at the level of 1–3 CFU ml⁻¹ and the USDA method was sensitive at 10–30 CFU ml⁻¹. Conclusions: The Australian Standard method and the Australian industry method were both able to detect Salmonella reliably even at a low level of contamination. Significance and Impact of the Study: This study gives a high level of confidence both to the operators of poultry-processing plants and to regulators dependent upon the outcome of Salmonella testing for process control in Australia. 2010-04-27T04:41:30.437Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:5348 A novel bacterial strain isolated in Australia, Propionibacterium jensenii 702 (PJ702), was examined for its potential as a direct-fed microbial to improve weight gain in calves. Holstein bull calves, 24, were randomly allocated into a Treatment or Control group and held under simulated commercial calf rearing conditions. Both groups were treated identically, with the exception that the Treatment calves were given between 1.1×10⁸ and 1.2×10⁹ cfu/(kg day) of PJ702. Faecal recovery of PJ702 from the Treatment calves from week 2 indicated successful gastrointestinal transit of the bacterium, and blood haematology and biochemistry indicated no adverse effects following PJ702 administration. There were improvements in weight gains with the Treatment group during both the pre-weaning (P=0.001) and the weaning period (P=0.04). Eighteen weeks after cessation of treatment, and removal to an extensive farming operation, Treatment calves remained heavier to the Control calves (P=0.03), with a final weight difference between the groups of 21.3 kg. 2010-04-27T04:37:20.382Z ]]>