A probiotic bacterium isolated from kimchi bound strongly to polystyrene nanoplastics in laboratory experiments and was linked to higher nanoplastic excretion in germ-free mice, according to a research summary released by South Korea’s National Research Council of Science & Technology.
Scientists at the World Institute of Kimchi (WiKim), a government-funded research institute under South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT, reported results suggesting a kimchi-derived lactic acid bacterium could help reduce intestinal nanoplastics by binding to them and promoting their removal through waste.
In lab experiments, the team examined a strain called Leuconostoc mesenteroides CBA3656 and tested how effectively it attached to polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs). Under standard laboratory conditions, CBA3656 reached an adsorption efficiency of 87%. In experiments designed to mimic conditions in the human intestine, the bacterium maintained 57% adsorption, while a comparison strain—Latilactobacillus sakei CBA3608—fell to 3%.
The researchers also tested the probiotic in germ-free mice. Male and female mice given CBA3656 had more than double the amount of nanoplastics detected in their feces compared with mice that did not receive the strain, the research summary said—findings the team interpreted as evidence that the bacterium can bind nanoplastics in the gut and help move them out of the body.
The work was published in Bioresource Technology, according to the research summary.
