Exploration of intestinal microbiota of breastfeeding mothers with the habit of drinking dangke water as a local food of the Enrekang community

Abstract

Background:The people of Enrekang Regency, especially in Curio District, have a habit of consuming dangke water (local cheese-making waste), including breastfeeding mothers. There has not been much research related to the habit of drinking dangke water on gut health. Objective: To describe the gut microbiota profile of breastfeeding mothers who have a habit of consuming dangke water. Method: Descriptive study with a cross-sectional design, a sample size of 42 breastfeeding mothers. The group that consumed dangke water (intervention) was 33 people from Curio District and 9 people from the non-consumption group (control) from Kabere District. Direct visits were conducted to the intervention group to ensure drinking 150ml/day for 3 months. The data collected included subject characteristics, nutritional intake, and fecal samples. Samples were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing at the HUM-RC Unhas Laboratory and then analyzed bioinformatics wf-metagenomics Sequencing Report. Results:A total of 42 breastfeeding mothers participated in this study, predominantly aged 30–39 years (45.2%), with a high school education (47.6%), and working as housewives (54.8%). Alpha-diversity analysis showed that the intervention group had a higher species richness than the control group (richness 77.00 ± 17.95 vs 55.73 ± 16.51). At the phylum level, Bacillota was dominant in both groups (82.86% vs 85.28%), but the intervention group showed a higher proportion of Bacteroidota (7.21% vs 6.27%).At the species level, the intervention group had higher numbers of several good bacteria that are important for gut health., namely Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (13.32% vs 12.37%), Agathobacter rectalis (7.14% vs 5.82%), Blautia wexlerae (5.54% vs 4.60%), and Segatella copri (5.60% vs 4.81%). Conclusion:Consumption of dangke water is associated with increased richness, total microbes, and butyrate-producing species, indicating a more favorable gut microbiota profile in breastfeeding mothers compared to the control group.

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