Beijing company sets up Asia's largest probiotic resource bank

Beijing-based high-tech company Scitop Bio-tech has established Asia's largest probiotic strain resource bank, and aims at creating the largest probiotic strain resource bank in the world by 2022, marking a leap-forward development in China's probiotic industry.

"We began the research and development on probiotics in 2003. We collect probiotic strains worldwide, and now we have a collection of 14,341 strains, forming the largest resource bank in Asia," said Liu Xiaojun, president of Scitop Bio-tech.

According to the company, it analyzed every strain of probiotics on the genetic level, and screened out those strains that can survive in a human intestine and benefit the human body.

"Through years of efforts, we successfully industrialized our scientific achievements, and introduced multiple products that had gained popularity among the public. To guarantee the effect, we have conducted 30 clinical trials in the country's 3A-grade hospitals," he noted.

Industry experts said that when China first started its probiotic industry, enterprises had to purchase almost all core strains from European and American countries, which not only cost a lot, but also limited the development of the country's probiotic industry. However, developing probiotics of their own means great input of both human resources and time.

To solve the dilemma, scientists from Scitop Bio-tech searched through the ancient trade routes in China, Mongolia, Russia, and separated lactic acid bacteria from traditional fermented dairy products, where they successfully collected 14,341 probiotic strains, and greatly narrowed the gap of R&D ability with foreign probiotic companies.

Zhang Heping, director of the diary product lab at the Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, said that "developing probiotics on our own is beneficial to improving national health. The environment should suit probiotic strains, and so does the human body. Those strains selected from the European's body may not suit our Chinese intestine."

The company recently introduced a new probiotic product, namely Probio-Fit, which aims to improve the public's intestinal health and immunity. The product is approved by the China Anti-Doping Agency of the General Administration of Sport of China to offer to athletes from China's national team.