Inorganic contaminants contaminations poses one of the greatest threats to the environment and human health. It has been recently reported that probiotics protect the organism from inorganic contaminant damage by their bioabsorption capacity of its components. Kefir is a beverage obtained through the
Inorganic contaminants contaminations poses one of the greatest threats to the environment and human health. It has been recently reported that probiotics protect the organism from inorganic contaminant damage by their bioabsorption capacity of its components. Kefir is a beverage obtained through the metabolized fermentation by Lactobacillus and yeasts in the forms of aggregate, creating the grains of kefir. In addition to hundreds of species of bacteria these grains also contain filamentous fungi living in symbiosis. In order to isolate inorganic contaminant resistant microorganism, the kefir grains were crushed and the supernatant obtained was inoculated in malt-agar medium (2%) and cultured for 120 hours. Occurred formation of halos of growth which were measured every 24 hours, in this way the growth inhibition was determined. The isolated microorganism was also cultured in liquid media for five days. The taxonomic analysis revealed to be, fungus of the genus Penicillium. The results obtained showed the capability of mercury bioabsorption by the colonies of Penicillium sp isolated from kefir. Modifying the conditions of the media (pH 4.0 and 9.0) the bioabsorption did not drastically modify the activity. Contrary to what was expected there was an increase in biomass when growth in liquid medium, which could suggest the formation of storage structures for the inorganic contaminants around the cell membrane. These results suggest that kefir contains in its composition microorganisms with potential to protect people who consume it from harmful damages caused by inorganic contaminants.
