This study aimed to evaluate some probiotic properties of Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6051a. The phenotypic profile, resistance to pH by simulated gastric juice (pH 2 and 3), bile salts by simulated intestinal fluid, survivability (%), heat and antibiotics tolerance were investigated. The strain is a Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria, arranged in short chains or in small irregular pairs with the ability to produce spores. Good viability at pH 2 and 3, with a survival of more than ≥80%, was found. In the presence of bile salts 0.3%, over 4 h, the strain exhibited a survival ≥85%. At 80°C, for 120 min., the strain showed good growth (9.04 log CFU/ml). Results were sensitive to most antibiotics, with a highly susceptible (between 16 – 25 mm) to erythromycin, clindamycin, amoxicillin, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, amikacin and kanamycin. The strain was found to be sensitive to vancomycin, gentamicin, and tetracycline. The present research demonstrated that Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6051a can survive under gastrointestinal conditions, which involves them to future in vitro and in vivo probiotic studies.

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The aim of the study was to characterize the Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6051a strain, in order to establish its probiotic utility in piglet nutrition. The strain was assayed morphologically, culturally, biochemically, for hemolytic activity and enzymatically (amylase and protease). The identification and analysis of the biochemical characteristics was performed by catalase assay, API 50 CHB Biomerieux strips, apiweb API 50 CHB V 4.0 soft (B. subtilis very good identification, 99.4% ID) and ABIS online. The hemolytic activity was assayed on blood agar medium. The growth activity of strain was evaluated in two ways: static incubation (30 C, 24 h, 1.36 x 10 8 CFU/ml) and under constant agitation (30 C, 24 h, 150 rpm, (1.6 x 10 9 CFU/ml). The strain is a Gram-positive and rodshaped bacteria, arranged in short chains or in small irregular pairs with ability to produce spores on nutrient medium. The endospores were central, paracentral and subterminal, which did not deform the vegetative cell. The strain growth was aerobic and was nonhemolytic. The enzymatic process was observed by appearance of distinct zones around strain colonies. In conclusion, the results suggested that the strain present probiotic traits and can be further assessed for other probiotic characters (resistance to pH 2.0, resistance to bile acids and salts, antibacterial activity, induction of local immune response etc.).

It is well-known that camelina oil, obtained from Camelina sativa seeds is rich in fatty acids, predominantly linolenic acid and is used successfully in pharmaceutical and cosmetic therapies. It is remarkable that this species has a great adaptability to environmental conditions, being able to cultivate it on agricultural parcels and polluted soils. The goal of this work is to evaluate the quantitative and qualitative differences of three types of camelina oils, obtained from varieties grown in Romania: GP 202-Spanish provenance, Camelia and Mădălina, both Romanian provenance. The effect of soil fertilization on the quality of the seeds /oil obtained from 3 varieties of camelina was tested, the control being the unfertilized Camelina variety. The following parameters have been evaluated: seed moisture, cold oil extraction yield, certain physico-chemical oil indicators and percent quantitative composition of individual and total fatty acids. Remarkable is the total fatty acid content of the oil that varies between 75.87 g% for the unfertilized Mădălina variant and 81 g% for the fertilized GP-202 variant. Taking in consideration the results for all the studied parameters, it can be concluded that the Mădălina variety is very similar to the other two, and fertilization contributes insignificantly to the improvement of the quality of the obtained oil.

Camelina sativa is mainly used as an oilseed crop; its edible oil is being also used as a traditional home remedy for the treatment of ulcers, wounds, and eye inflammations, due to the antioxidant activities. In the present study, the chemically characterized alcoholic extracts of Camelina sativa var. Madalina defatted seeds (5 g/kg body weight p.o., suspended in CMC-Na 0.1%) were administered to stress-induced animal models of irritable bowel syndrome (based on combinations of contention stress and multifactorial stress and maternal stress) and evaluated for the behavioural (short-term memory by the Y maze test, the anxious behaviour using the elevated plus maze test, and the antidepressant effect using the forced swimming test) and brain and bowel tissue oxidative status (superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase enzymes activities and malondialdehyde and total soluble protein levels) improving effects. According to the chemical characterization, the extracts were rich in sinapine, glucosinolates, and flavonol glycosides. Moreover, this study showed the beneficial effects of Camelina sativa seed methanolic and ethanolic extracts on the behaviour and brain and bowel tissues oxidative stress status of stress exposure-based IBS mouse models. Despite the slight differences in the chemical composition of the methanolic and ethanolic extracts, the results suggested that the Camelina sativa extracts could reverse the short-term memory impairments caused by stress exposure and also could decrease the intensity and frequency of the anxiety and depressive-like behaviours observed in the stress-exposed animal models of IBS. Furthermore, the Camelina sativa extracts showed a significant effect on the oxidative stress markers in the brain and bowel tissues of the studied animal model by decreasing the superoxide dismutase activity and increasing the glutathione peroxidase activity. However, the results suggested that the extracts could also increase lipid peroxidation in bowel tissues. In this way, this study provides additional evidence that the administration of Camelina sativa seed alcoholic extracts could improve cognitive performances and mood and exhibit the antioxidant capacity in both the brain and bowel tissues.