Oral Administration of Animal and Plant Protein Mixture with <em>Lactiplantibacillus plantarum</em> IDCC 3501 Improves Protein Digestibility

A combined usage of animal and plant proteins-mixture could aid to solve environmental and social problems arising from the use of animal protein alone, while also improving the taste and texture of plant protein. Protein mixtures could be a better protein source due to the high availability of amino acids in the body compared with single proteins. Consuming proteins with probiotics can provide more beneficial health effects by helping to hydrolyze protein and absorb amino acids in the body. In this study, coadministration of an animal and plant protein mixture with a high concentration of probiotics was investigated to increase protein digestibility and amino acids absorbability in a mice model. <i>Lactiplantibacillus plantarum</i> IDCC 3501, which has the maximum ability to hydrolyze a protein mixture, composed of soybean protein and milk protein, was selected, and the changes in mice (C57BL/6J, male, six weeks) were investigated after the coadministration of protein mixture and 5 × 10⁸ or 5 <i>×</i> 10⁹ CFU/mL of <i>L. plantarum</i> for eight weeks. Normal diet, high-protein diet (HPD), and HPD supplementing <i>L. plantarum</i> were separately administered to mice. Food and water consumption of the mice did not differ depending on diet type. Measurements of the serum concentrations of amino acids showed that the absorption of aspartate, glutamate, isoleucine, leucine, valine, and lysine increased when high concentrations of protein and probiotics were administered. Thus, high <i>L. plantarum</i> concentrations could be a protein diet supplementation to improve health by promoting the absorption of amino acids.