Open AccessMolecular and in vitro assessment of some probiotic characteristics of amylolytic Lactobacillus plantarum strains from Bulgarian fermented products
Author(s) -
Gotcheva Velitchka,
Petrova Galya,
Petkova Mariana,
Kuzmanova Yordanka,
Angelov Angel
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
engineering in life sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.547
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1618-2863
pISSN - 1618-0240
DOI - 10.1002/elsc.201800054
Subject(s) - probiotic , lactobacillus plantarum , food science , biology , fermentation , starter , lactobacillus , microbiology and biotechnology , starch , bacteria , lactic acid , genetics
In the recent years, consumers’ interest in healthy diet opened a new field for functional food development through combining the valuable composition of cereals and the health‐promoting properties of lactic acid bacteria (LAB). LAB with amylolytic properties can assimilate starch in a single‐step process and could be successfully applied as starter cultures offering an efficient nutritional conversion of cereal matrices. The probiotic potential of amylolytic LAB has not been investigated so far, therefore the present study focused on the molecular screening and in vitro tests of five amylolytic Lactobacillus plantarum strains to assess their tolerance to high acid and bile salts concentrations and antibiotic resistance as basic characteristics required for probiotic strains selection. Results showed excellent correspondence between the genetic screening and the phenotypic tests performed. Survivability at high acidity and bile salts presence was strain specific, with significant positive effect observed for cultures in stationary phase compared to those in exponential phase. Effect of starch in the medium proved most important to ensure viability of the amylolytic strains, which reveals the excellent potential of amylolytic LAB for commercially relevant probiotic applications. The strains proved to be generally safe in terms of antibiotic resistance. Among the five tested strains, L. plantarum Bom2 showed the best probiotic potential.