Safety assessment and evaluation of probiotic potential of bacteriocinogenic Enterococcus faecium KH 24 strain under in vitro and in vivo conditions

In the present investigation, a previously isolated Enterococcus faecium KH 24 strain was evaluated for the presence of virulence determinants (agg, esp, efaAfm, gelE, cylA, cylB, clyM, cpd, cob, ccf, ace and hyl), sensitivity to various antibiotics and production of biogenic amines. No virulence determinants were detected, except efaAfm. KH 24 was found to be sensitive to most of the tested antibiotics and none of the biogenic amines were produced by it. Moreover, KH 24 showed good in vitro tolerance to biological barriers and furthermore, its survival in gut of mice was also evaluated. Mice group fed with E. faecium KH 24 strain showed better weight gain and nearly 1 log cfu/g decrease in Salmonella enteritidis counts in the intestines as compared to control (p < 0.05). Enhanced growth of lactobacilli (p < 0.05) and decrease in coliform counts (p < 0.05) were also observed in test group. E. faecium KH 24 is, therefore, found to be a safe strain and it may be used as protective culture or as a probiotic in food preparations.