Comparison of mupirocin-based media for selective enumeration of bifidobacteria in probiotic supplements

•The cultivation method for qualitative analysis of bifidobacteria in probiotic supplements was verified.•Specificity and suitability of mupirocin-based media were evaluated.•Tested products contained the declared Bifidobacterium species.

An international standard already exists for the selective enumeration of bifidobacteria in milk products. This standard uses Transgalactosylated oligosaccharides (TOS) propionate agar supplemented with mupirocin. However, no such standard method has been described for the selective enumeration of bifidobacteria in probiotic supplements, where the presence of bifidobacteria is much more variable than in milk products. Therefore, we enumerated bifidobacteria by colony count technique in 13 probiotic supplements using three media supplemented with mupirocin (Mup; 100 mg/l): TOS, Bifidobacteria selective medium (BSM) and modified Wilkins-Chalgren anaerobe agar with soya peptone (WSP). Moreover, the potential growth of bifidobacterial strains often used in probiotic products was performed in these media. All 13 products contained members of the genus Bifidobacterium, and tested mupirocin media were found to be fully selective for bifidobacteria. However, the type strain Bifidobacterium bifidum DSM 20456 and collection strain B. bifidum DSM 20239 showed statistically significant lower counts on TOS Mup media, compared to BSM Mup and WSP Mup media. Therefore, the TOS Mup medium recommended by the ISO standard cannot be regarded as a fully selective and suitable medium for the genus Bifidobacterium. In contrast, the BSM Mup and WSP Mup media supported the growth of all bifidobacterial species.