Effect of baby food supplement on the growth and metabolite of lactic acid bacteria.

Abstract

Background: Child growth during the first 1000 days is crucial for developing the immune system, particularly through the digestive system. However, in the early childhood phase, most children facing feeding issues, which leading to insufficient nutrient uptake. Thereby, the external supplementation may be essential to support their nutrition needs. Therefore, this study evaluated the potential of a baby food supplement (BFS) to promote the growth of beneficial lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and their metabolite production.

Results: The food supplement did not significantly interfere with LAB growth. Instead, it significantly enhanced the antimicrobial activity of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Limosilactobacillus fermentum against Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively. The addition of BFS also improved the adhesion capacity of the LAB used in this study to yeast cells. Moreover, gas chromatography‒mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed greater amounts of bioactive compounds related to antimicrobial and immunomodulatory properties, such as lactic acid and trilinolein, in the supernatants with the addition of food supplements. Liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) analysis also revealed that there were more compounds in M3 than in M1 or only, which are associated with the immune system and neurocognitive development, such as choline, rapastinel, octopamine, aceglutamide, indoleacrylic acid, 1-aminocyclopropanecarboxylic acid (ACPC), and GABA.

Conclusions: Baby food supplements are promising for improving the production of beneficial health metabolites of lactic acid bacteria used in this in vitro study, as they inhibit pathogens, promote competition, and produce many beneficial bioactive compounds. The limitation of this study is that it was performed in vitro, and further studies are needed.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12866-025-04407-4.

Keywords: Baby food supplement (BFS); Bioactive compound; Child-feeding issue; Gut microbiota; Lactic acid bacteria (LAB).