Hyrslova I, Krausova G, Bartova J, Kolesar L and Curda L
Because bovine and goat colostrum are a rich source of essential nutrients for new-borns, their use in functional foods has substantially increased in recent years, but not in combination with probiotic bacteria. Therefore, our aim was to assess the possibility of combining goat or bovine colostrum with probiotics. First, we compared the immunomodulatory effect of both goat and bovine colostrum with that of human milk by the 3-day in vitro stimulation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (hPBMCs). Luminex multiplex analysis was used to analyze cytokine production by the hPBMCs. Although goat colostrum had a more similar immunomodulatory effect to human milk than bovine colostrum, we, nevertheless, decided to compare the potential of all three as growth substrates. Using the agar plate method, the growth of bifidobacteria, lactobacilli and enterococci was determined. Growth of Bifidobacterium sp. in goat colostrum is significantly better (P < 0.05) than in bovine colostrum or human milk. Our results indicate that goat colostrum has significant potential for the development of new functional foods and dietary supplements with bifidobacteria.