A total of forty-two bacterial isolates from different samples of yoghurt and shnina purchased form local markets in Basrah Governorate. The preliminary screening was carried out all bacterial isolates by carbazol staining. The twenty-one isolates were selected based on the intensity of colour variation in the fermentation medium and were identified according to phenotypic, microscopic, and biochemical examinations, which included twelve isolates of Streptococcus thermophilus, four isolates of Pediococcus pentosaceus, and five isolates of Entirococcus faecuim. Vitek II Compact instrument was used with all isolates to confirm the initial identification. The secondary screening was performed for isolates of S. thermophilus species. Given the amount of the produced hyaluronic acid, the St15 had the highest hyaluronic acid production, which was 0.231 g/L. The 16S rRNA test allowed the identification of this isolate.
The results showed that the best conditions for acid production were 0.598 g/L and the amount of biomass was 6.08 g/L after the S. thermophilus (ABST) strain grown on the alternative medium containing 450 ml/L whey, 7.5 g/L yeast extract, 3% an inoculum volume and pH 6.8, incubated on an orbital shaker at 40°C for 18 hours, and agitated at 150 rpm.
HPLC, FTIR, and NMR techniques were used to identify the nucleus of the hydrogen atom (proton) 1H and the carbon atoms 13C in the presence of standard hyaluronic acid for comparison. The results revealed the peaks and bands of the produced acid were similar to that of the standard acid.
The produced hyaluronic acid was characterized by a viscosity of 595 g/ml and a molecular weight of 6.83×106 Daltons. Its gravimetric decomposition temperature was 220 °C. The differential calorimetric decomposition results displayed three peaks, one of which is endothermic at a temperature of 103°C and two peaks are endothermic at 220°C and 238°C.
By assessing the antioxidant activity of hyaluronic acid at concentrations between 50-1300 g/ml, assays were conducted on free radical scavenging ability, reducing power, ability of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) capture, and the binding of ferrous ion, which were 69.18%, 1.1 nm, 78.42, and 73.74% at the highest antioxidant activity, respectively.
The hyaluronic acid produced was used as a natural antioxidant to inhibit oxidation in crude sunflower oil by estimating the peroxide value, pH, thiobarbituric acid, and iodine number in two types of opaque and transparent containers and at different storage periods of 0, 30, 60, and 90 days. The concentration of 600 mg/kg of oil gave the best inhibitory activity to hinder oxidation in the oil filled in opaque packages during all storage periods. The inhibitory activity during 90 days of storage reached low values for peroxide number 32.81 mEq/kg oil, the acidity number 6.01 mg potassium hydroxide/kg oil, and thiobarbituric acid 0.43. The amount of malonaldehyde was 0.43 mg/kg oil, and high values for the iodine number 118.8 mg/100 g oil compared to the control sample.
The impact of feeding using oil supplemented with hyaluronic acid as an antioxidant was studied in the diet of experimental animals for 42 days. The animals were allocated into three treatments (T): The T1 fed on oil free of antioxidants, T2 fed on oil supplemented with synthetic antioxidants (BHT), and T3 fed on oil supplemented with hyaluronic acid. The results indicated that the cumulative weight increase rate for T1, T2 and T3 was 14.85, 21.14, and 24.48 gm, respectively. The average feed consumption was 679, 698, and 725 gm, respectively. The feed conversion efficiency (FCE) was 2.18, 3.02, and 3.37, respectively, while the feed conversion rate (FCR) was 45.72, 33.01, and 29.61, respectively.
After 42 days, the haematological parameters of experimental animals under T2 and T3 treatment showed that they were within the normal range of blood parameters where there was no harmful effect on liver function as measured through enzyme activity indicators in blood serum and on immune cells as compared to treatment T1.
The microbial characteristics were studied in the faeces of experimental animals fed for T1, T2, and T3 for 42 days. The results also pointed to a decrease in the number of Streptococci bacteria for T2 and T3 compared to T1 which counted to log 4.12 and 4.15 and 5.09 CFU/gm, respectively. The numbers of Lactic acid bacteria for T2 and T3 excelled which were log 9.55 and 9.15 CFU/gm, respectively, compared to the T1, which amounted to 9.05 CFU/gm. As for the intestinal bacteria group, it was noticed that their numbers decreased for groups T2 and T3, which amounted to 6.39 and 6.29 CFU/gm, respectively, while their numbers increased for T1, which amounted to log 7.95 CFU/gm.