## 3 Results and Discussion
### Change of Viability of Lactobacillus after Tabletting and Tablet Disintegration  
In order to achieve benefits from probiotics, probiotic products must contain at least \(10^{6}\) CFU (Colony Forming Unit)/g or be eaten in sufficient amounts to yield a daily intake of \(10^{8}\) CFU [24]. Therefore, the number of viable lactobacilli cells in tablets was investigated. As shown in Table 3, at least \(1.55\pm 0.80\) billion viable cells per tablet were found after disintegration, which meets the intake requirement for probiotics. However, compared with the mixed lactobacilli powder before tabletting, the number of viable cells in tablets decreased remarkably for four kinds of tablets. [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON] and [PERSON] [12] had also found that there was up to 2.3 logarithmic cycles reduction in the number of viable \(L\). _acidophilus_ in effervescent probiotics tablets after tabletting. [PERSON] and [PERSON] [25] had observed that cellular viability decrease was related to the applied compression force in tabletting. Under mechanical stress, some cells cannot tolerate such compression, which caused damages to the cell walls and membranes or even loss of viability [12]. But it is worth noting that the survival rate of lactobacilli cells was higher for tablets containing the herbs than that for the control, and the survival rate enhanced significantly with the increase of the herbs content in tablets (\(p<0.05\)) (Table 3). This result demonstrated that Chinese ginseng and _P. sibiricum_ can protect the viability of lactobacilli cells in the tablets. Perhaps some active ingredients in the herbs, such as polysaccharides, might maintain the viability of the lactobacilli. As we know, prebiotics supply a fermentable carbohydrate for probiotic bacteria in the colon, stimulating the growth and activity [26]. Thus, we further speculated that the two herbs may have similar functions with prebiotics, which would protect or promote the viability of beneficial bacteria after consumption. Therefore, the viability of lactobacilli cells after gastrointestinal juices treatment for four kinds of tablets was investigated, which will be discussed in a later part in this study. What is the change of lactobacilli viability after tablet disintegration? Do the herbs protect viability or stimulate the growth of lactobacilli after tablet disintegration? Surprisingly, after disintegration for 48 h, the number of lactobacilli cells for the control tablet increased more than 2-fold, while the survival rate for tablets containing the herbs decreased by 10.5%-23.75% (Table 4). In fact, besides polysaccharides, saponins are another main active component in ginseng and _P. sibiricum_ which have antimicrobial activity [27; 28; 29]. [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON] and [PERSON] [29] found that a total extract of ginseng had lower antimicrobial activity than some pure ginseng \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline
**Tablets** & **Weight (g)** & **Thickness (mm)** & **Disintegration Time (min)** \\ \hline Control & 0.82 \(\pm\) 0.02 a & 7.05 \(\pm\) 0.37 a & 3.19 \(\pm\) 0.41 a \\ L-group & 0.85 \(\pm\) 0.03 b & 6.90 \(\pm\) 0.39 a & 4.48 \(\pm\) 0.31 b \\ M-group & 0.88 \(\pm\) 0.02 c & 7.40 \(\pm\) 0.61 a & 6.92 \(\pm\) 0.33 c \\ H-group & 0.92 \(\pm\) 0.02 d & 8.15 \(\pm\) 0.24 b & 9.70 \(\pm\) 0.42 d \\ \hline \end{tabular} All data show the means \(\pm\) SD. Different letters in the same column indicate a significant difference.  
\end{table} 
Table 2: Weight, thickness and disintegration time of the lactobacilli effervescent tablets supplemented with different contents of Chinese ginseng and _Polygonatum sibiricum_.