Aims: To evaluate a traditional yoghurt used as folk medicine for its ability to kill Helicobacter pylori in vitro.
Methods and results: Micro-organisms from the yoghurt were identified and tested in different food substrates for their effects on H. pylori in a co-culture well system. Two yeasts and several strains of lactobacilli were isolated from the yoghurt, and both the yeast and the lactobacilli independently showed cidal activity against H. pylori. The microbes from the original yoghurt also retained their cidal effect when grown in corn meal and soy milk.
Conclusions: The yeast and lactobacilli found in this yoghurt form a hardy symbiotic culture. The organisms secrete soluble factors capable of killing H. pylori, and these factors may include some organic by-products of fermentation.
Significance and impact of the study: These yoghurt-derived food preparations could become simple and inexpensive therapies to suppress H. pylori infections in endemic countries.