How to Make Powdered Probiotics?

[jpt120]

Does anyone know how to make powdered probiotics like you can buy in supplement form?

Please let me know if anyone has any ideas on this.

Thanks-

[Tim Hall]

I've looked into this with regard to yeast...I suspect the process is similar with other powder-form cultures. The process is pretty high tech, and involves acid washing, centrifuging and dessicating the culture by freeze drying. I have yet to find anyone who's done a DIY freeze dryer that works like a commercial model, and commercial lyophilizers cost $$$$.

Of course back when, people would simply harvest the dregs from the bottom of a ferment and set it out in the sun to dry. Spores from fungus (like koji and tempeh) can be harvested easily this way, but it's not at all the same as bacteria.

I'm about to start experimenting with keeping frozen liquid cultures stabilized in glycerol. This is a far simpler and cheaper technique than freeze drying. Will post back when I have results.

[jpt120]

Thanks Tim, yes please do keep me posted of your results!

[Tim Hall]

jpt120, what are you wanting to accomplish with the powdered culture? If I (other other posters) had a better idea of your intention, maybe an alternative could be presented.

My intention with frozen liquid cultures is to bank(1) these cultures for future use and propagation. But before that happens the culture first has to be isolated(2), then propagated(3) to sufficient cell numbers for storage. These are three different tasks with three different purposes.

Are you wanting to bank cultures, propagate cultures, or both?

[jpt120]

Hey Tim,

I'm not sure what "banking" means, but I think I am leaning more towards the "propagating" side of your question. My interest originally stemmed from wanting to make a concentrated yogurt that is found in Wholefoods (i cant remember the name) with 50 billion cultures in maybe less than 1/2 a cup. Then I thought, why not just learn how to make a high powered probiotic powder? So I guess partly curiousity, partly because I spent a lot of money taking roughly 800 billion probiotics per day, partly because there is a potentially big market for high powered probiotics on the market. And lastly, my question stems from just a curious extension of my probiotic obsession, how they are created in all forms...

Hope that clarifies my intent, please let me know if you have any insight specifically with the above stated intent. Its just weird, I can't find even basic information on the web, although I havent done an intense search. But you'd think I'd finding something........

[Tim Hall]

Yeah, I had a feeling that's where you were going with it. A lot of this information is tied up in scientific literature, to be found both in laboratory/microbiology manuals and scientific journals.

In other words the information you're seeking is often highly technical and spoken in a highly technical language. If you really want to get into it, you'll probably have to do some deep digging. One place you might start is by connecting with some microbiology folk at your local university (assuming you have one).

Just be aware that these institutions (and people there) may not be quite so open minded with your aim in researching this topic, as the primary bent of "Microbiology" has to do with pathogens and the development of pharmaceuticals. Most microbiology students are looking to go into the pharmaceutical industry or are pre-med, and so the literature and educational programs generally take this direction.

What you might start looking for is basic information on "laboratory culture technique." Learn how to mix up culture medium (food source), identify, isolate and culture/propagate (grow) microbes.

This is a very different approach than "wild" fermentation, and begins with Pasteur's work around the time of the industrial revolution. This is a more "industrial" approach in other words.

[Tim Hall]

BTW what I mean by "banking" cultures is this: I have a certain type of yeast I like to use in my brewing. Purchasing the yeast (like probiotics) gets expensive at some point. So my aim is to grow the original culture to sufficient cell numbers that I can store (bank) the culture long-term, and supply myself with my own yeast.

There's a bit of a difference here with yeast and "probiotic" blends though. One strain of organism is easy to deal with. A multi-strain, multi-species culture, however, may require isolating each organism, culturing them individually, then recombining them into a "probiotic" formulation. The reason is if you simply take a blend of organisms and feed them something, there's no guarantee that all the organisms will survive or maintain the proper balance you want, because some organisms will out-compete each other or begin to dominate the culture.

So the beauty in certain "wild" cultures, like kombucha and kefir, is that you have a multi-strain culture that naturally maintains a certain balance without having to intervene with technical processes.

Also something for you to consider: One of the reasons probiotic manufacturers will tout cell counts, in millions or billions or whatever, is that storing microbes in this way will inevitably kill many of the cells and does not provide a buffering medium (like a fermented food) by which the microbes are consumed. In other words you have to have high cell counts in this method.

[jpt120]

Thanks so much Tim. I always look forward to when you reply to my questions because you give such thorough, knowledgable advice. Thank you on behalf of everybody you help out.

RE: the probiotics- that sounds way over my head. I wish I knew what you knew about the science part of it. You should start online courses in Microbiology 101 as it relates to fermentation. I'd pay money for something like that!

[Tim Hall]

Well I really don't know that much within the scientific context...certainly not compared to someone who's really studied microbiology. When I have an idea for something, I research it, sometimes within the scientific context. But what I think is more important is understanding things from a holistic and intuitive perspective.

I feel good from the inside out when I incorporate cultured food into my diet. What difference does it really make what biology has to say about it? Honey water left out to the open air begins to bubble and alchemically transform. What difference does it really make what you call the magical thing that transforms it?

[jpt120]

Well the difference is that if I had a greater understanding of biology I would know how to make my probiotics and you would understand how to more efficiently bank your cultures. Obviously my intent is not to learn technical jargon for what I already know about fermentation; it would be to understand my subject more completely in order to open new possibilities and diversification within my hobby.