Probiotic lactic acid bacterium from kanjika as a potential source of vitamin B12: evidence from LC-MS, immunological and microbiological techniques.

Vitamin B(12) was produced by probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum in submerged fermentation (96 h) with successive anaerobic and aerobic phases of 48 h each to give 13 ng vitamin B(12)/g dry biomass. Sodium cyanide-mediated cell lysis, followed by benzyl alcohol/chloroform/water extraction, improved the release of intracellular vitamin B(12) for analysis. The presence of the K(+) adduct of cyanocobalamin (m/z of 1394) was established using electron spray ionization-mass spectra; growth of a mutant of Escherichia coli in the presence of cyanocobalamin ascertained its bioavailability.