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Background: Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) is considered as food-grade microorganism with generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status. Both hetero-fermentative and homo-fermentative LAB have the ability to produce mannitol as metabolic end product in normal fermentation. Methods: Ten LAB isolates selected were detected for its mannitol production potential using colorimetric assay in preliminary study. Later selected four isolates of LAB with better mannitol production were further optimized at different culture conditions. A total of 540 mannitol combinations were obtained after optimization. All the observations were statistically analyzed using response surface methodology. Biochemical and molecular assays were carried out to identify the isolates. Result: The isolate L8 produced mean mannitol content of 1.635 g/L, 0.345967 cell densities, at pH 7.0 and temperature 42℃ with agitation of 100 rpm was selected with optimum response surface optimization because of its higher mannitol production. Biochemical and molecular assays identified higher mannitol producers, L4 as Enterococcus faecium strain Gr17, L6 as Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain 6870, L8 as Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides culture IMAU: 11666 and L9 as Lactobacillus plantarum subsp. plantarum strain NMB8. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study of six months duration was conducted to assess the effect of paddy straw based complete rations containing different levels of NDF on digestibility coefficients of nutrients in lactating dairy cows, in two phases, viz., early and mid lactation. Three isonitrogenous and isocaloric complete rations, T1, T2 and T3 with 25, 30 and 35 per cent NDF, respectively were formulated as per ICAR (1998). Paddy straw was the sole source of roughage NDF, with the rest of NDF being met from non-forage sources, in all the three rations. Eighteen dairy cows yielding approximately 10 kg of milk per day were divided into three groups of six each, and allotted to the three experimental rations. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) in digestibility coefficients of nutrients such as dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, crude fibre, ether extract, nitrogen free extract, NDF and energy, among the dietary treatments, in both phases I and II. However, the digestibility coefficient of acid detergent fibre was significantly higher (P<0.05) in T2 and T3 than T1, with T2 and T3 being similar (P>0.05), in both the phases. A thorough evaluation of the results obtained in the present study, reveal that the animals in all the three dietary treatments performed well, with the complete rations T3 with 35 per cent NDF and T2 with 30 per cent NDF showing better performance than T1 with 25 per cent NDF. Between T2 and T3 which were more or less comparable, the cows fed on the diet T3 had a higher digestibility for NDF, ADF and crude fibre, indicating that T3 was better than T2. These results suggest that complete rations with 25 to 35 per cent NDF, containing paddy straw as the sole source of roughage NDF, with the rest of NDF being met from non-forage sources, can be recommended for use among early and mid lactation dairy cows, with 35 per cent being the ideal NDF level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was carried out to assess the efficacy of purified antimicrobial peptides of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), isolated from partially decayed samples of food items, against selected clinical isolates of mastitis bacterial pathogens, viz., Escherichia coli (E.coli), Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) and Streptococcus agalactiae (S.agalactiae). The crude culture extracts (CCE) from LAB isolates were concentrated and purified by salting out method followed by dialysis. Partially purified peptides (Tp-5 CRp-2 CRp-3) from three LAB isolated from tomato and carrot showed a significantly higher inhibitory spectrum, with zone of inhibition ranging from 11.66±0.33 to 12.66±0.33 mm diameter against different test pathogens. The inhibitory efficiency of all the three peptides was found to be significantly superior to the peptides from reference strain Lactococcus lactis NCIM-2114. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the purified peptide samples ranged between 0.79±0.09 to 1.11±0.09 µg/ml against different test pathogens. The activity of peptides was completely lost after treatment with protease, thereby confining their protein character. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A questionnaire based survey was conducted among residents of Kalpetta municipality about consumption pattern and preferences for livestock products. Out of 587 families studied 94% were nonvegetarians. Cow milk was preferred first and the preference was independent of religion. Most of the respondents preferred desi hen egg and there was no influence on religion on it. Most of the families ranked chicken as their first preferred meat and their preference for meat was dependent on religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]