Characterization and production optimization of a broad-spectrum bacteriocin produced by Lactobacillus casei KLDS 1.0338 and its application in soybean milk biopreservation

The role of fermentation with lactic acid bacteria in quality and health effects of plant-based dairy analogues

The modern food industry is undergoing a rapid change with the trend of production of plant-based food products that are more sustainable and have less impact on nature. Plant-based dairy analogues have been increasingly popular due to their suitability for individuals with milk protein allergy or lactose intolerance and those preferring a plant-based diet. Nevertheless, plant-based products still have insufficient nutritional quality, undesirable structure, and earthy, green, and bean-like flavor compared to dairy products. In addition, most plant-based foods contain lesser amounts of essential nutrients, antinutrients limiting the bioavailability of some nutrients, and allergenic proteins. Novel processing technologies can be applied to have a homogeneous and stable structure. On the other hand, fermentation of plant-based matrix with lactic acid bacteria can provide a solution to most of these problems. Additional nutrients can be produced and antinutrients can be degraded by bacterial metabolism, thereby increasing nutritional value. Allergenic proteins can be hydrolyzed reducing their immunoreactivity. In addition, fermentation has been found to reduce undesired flavors and to enhance various bioactivities of plant foods. However, the main challenge in the production of fermented plant-based dairy analogues is to mimic familiar dairy-like flavors by producing the major flavor compounds other than organic acids, yielding a flavor profile similar to those of fermented dairy products. Further studies are required for the improvement of the flavor of fermented plant-based dairy analogues through the selection of special microbial cultures and formulations.

Biosynthesis, classification, properties, and applications of Weissella bacteriocins

This review aims to comprehensively chronicle the biosynthesis, classification, properties, and applications of bacteriocins produced by Weissella genus strains, particularly emphasizing their potential benefits in food preservation, human health, and animal productivity. Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) are a class of microorganisms well-known for their beneficial role in food fermentation, probiotics, and human health. A notable property of LAB is that they can synthesize antimicrobial peptides known as bacteriocins that exhibit antimicrobial action against both closely related and other bacteria as well. Bacteriocins produced by Weissella spp. are known to exhibit antimicrobial activity against several pathogenic bacteria including food spoilage species, making them highly invaluable for potential application in food preservation and food safety. Importantly, they provide significant health benefits to humans, including combating infections, reducing inflammation, and modulating the gut microbiota. In addition to their applications in food fermentation and probiotics, Weissella bacteriocins show promising prospects in poultry production, processing, and improving animal productivity. Future research should explore the utilization of Weissella bacteriocins in innovative food safety measures and medical applications, emphasizing their potential to combat antibiotic-resistant pathogens, enhance gut microbiota composition and function, and synergize with existing antimicrobial therapies.

Enhanced production of bacteriocin by Bacillus subtilis ZY05

Bacteriocin-producing strains were isolated from the soil of the rice field, screened out using an agar-well diffusion assay against six indicator bacterial strains, and the highest among them was selected for further investigation. The study focuses on how different growing conditions affect bacteriocin production. One-parameter-at-a-time (OPAT) and a central composite design of response surface methodology (RSM) were used to perform the optimization in two steps. In the OPAT trials, bacteriocin synthesis was elevated by 29%, 45%, and 34%, by employing sucrose as a carbon source and changing the NaCl concentration and pH at 7, respectively. To determine the linear, squared, and interaction correlations among the process variables to predict the ideal conditions for production, a four-factor central composite design (CCD) of RSM was used. It was determined that the analysis of variance (ANOVA), which produces a recognized model using RSM, is sufficient to describe bacteriocin production regarding activity (R2 = 0.9606). The ideal conditions for increased production were 1.51% sucrose concentration, 1.59% NaCl concentration, pH 6.35, and 28.66 (about 29) hours of incubation. The value predicted by RSM (4051.55 AU/mL) was approximately two times greater than the value of a non-optimized medium. The experimental value of 4403.85 AU/mL was closer to the expected value. According to the data, increasing bacteriocin activity required employing the ideal sucrose concentration, NaCl concentration, and incubation time. The partially purified bacteriocin was found stable at temperatures between 24 and 50 °C and at pH 5-8. The molecular weight purified bacteriocin was determined to be between 13 and 35 kDa.

Enhanced viability of probiotics encapsulated within synthetic/natural biopolymers by the addition of gum arabic via electrohydrodynamic processing

To enhance the probiotics' viability, novel vehicles consisting of synthetic/natural biopolymers, i.e., polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH), polyvinylpyrrolidone, whey protein concentrate and maltodextrin, encapsulated with L. plantarum KLDS 1.0328 and gum arabic (GA) as a prebiotic were fabricated by electrohydrodynamic techniques. Inclusion of cells into composites caused an increase in conductivity and viscosity. Morphological analysis showed that cells were distributed along the electrospun nanofibres or distributed randomly in the electrosprayed microcapsules. Both intramolecular and intermolecular hydrogen bond interactions exist between biopolymers and cells. Thermal analysis revealed that the degradation temperatures (>300 °C) of various encapsulation systems have potential applications in heat-treatment foods. Additionally, cells especially immobilized in PVOH/GA electrospun nanofibres showed the highest viability compared with free cells after exposure to simulated gastrointestinal stress. Furthermore, cells retained their antimicrobial ability after rehydration of the composite matrices. Therefore, electrohydrodynamic techniques have great potential in encapsulating probiotics.

Purification, amino acid sequence, and characterization of bacteriocin GA15, a novel class IIa bacteriocin secreted by Lactiplantibacillus plantarum GCNRC_GA15

The bacteriocins produced by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are attracting attention due to their promising applications in food and pharmaceuticals fields. Hence, a LAB strain, GCNRC_GA15, was isolated from Egyptian goat cheese, and molecularly identified as Lactiplantibacillus plantarum. This strain showed a wide antimicrobial spectrum, which was found to be of proteineous nature, suggesting that L. plantarum GCNRC_GA15 is a bacteriocin-producer. This bacteriocin (bacteriocin GA15) was partially purified using cation exchange, and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. Tricine SDS-PAGE analysis for the fraction showing bacteriocin activity has estimated the molecular mass to be 4369 Da. Furthermore, amino acid sequencing of this peptide has detected 34 amino acids, and comparing its amino acid sequence with those of some pediocin-like bacteriocins revealed that bacteriocin GA15 has the conserved sequence (YYGNGV/L) in its N-terminal region which identified bacteriocin GA15 as a pediocin-like bacteriocin. Bacteriocin GA15 showed good heat and pH stabilities, and its activity was enhanced after treatment with Tween 80 or Triton X-100. Bacteriocin production medium was statistically optimized using the Plackett-Burman and Central Composite designs. As a result, bacteriocin production increased from 800 to 12,800 AU/ml using the optimized medium in comparison with result recorded for the un-optimized medium.

Growth Promoting Activity of Annona muricata L. Leaf Extracts on Lactobacillus casei

Soursop leaves are a source of phytochemical compounds, such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, hydrolyzable tannins, and acetogenins. These compounds can have several types of biological activities. Lactic acid bacteria can uptake phenolic compounds present in plants or fruits. The aim of the present work was to investigate the in vitro effect of hexane, acetone, methanolic, and aqueous extracts of soursop leaves (Annona muricata L.) on the growth, motility, and biofilm formation of Lactobacillus casei, and to determine compounds related to growth. The minimum concentration promoting growth, motility (swimming, swarming, and twitching), and biofilm-forming capacity (crystal violet) were evaluated. The results showed the growth-promoting capacity of acetone and aqueous extracts at low doses 25-50 mg/L, and an inhibition in the four extracts at higher doses of 100 mg/L. The L. casei growth is related to ellagic acid, quercetin rhamnoside, kaempferol dihexoside, quercetin hexoside, secoisolariciresinol, and kaempferol hexoside-rhamnoside. Hexane extract increased the three types of motility, while aqueous maintained swimming and twitching motility similar to control. The four extracts inhibited the biofilm formation capacity.

Novel pathways in bacteriocin synthesis by lactic acid bacteria with special reference to ethnic fermented foods

Ethnic fermented foods are known for their unique aroma, flavour, taste, texture and other sensory properties preferred by every ethnic community in this world culturally as parts of their eatables. Some beneficial microorganisms associated with fermented foods have several functional properties and health-promoting benefits. Bacteriocins are the secondary metabolites produced by the microorganisms mostly lactic acid bacteria present in the fermented foods which can act as lantibiotics against the pathogen bacteria. Several studies have been conducted regarding the isolation and characterization of potent strains as well as their association with different types of bacteriocins. Collective information regarding the gene organizations responsible for the potent effect of bacteriocins as lantibiotics, mode of action on pathogen bacterial cells is not yet available. This review focuses on the gene organizations, pathways include for bacteriocin and their mode of action for various classes of bacteriocins produced by lactic acid bacteria in some ethnic fermented foods.

A refined medium to enhance the antimicrobial activity of postbiotic produced by Lactiplantibacillus plantarum RS5

Postbiotic RS5, produced by Lactiplantibacillus plantarum RS5, has been identified as a promising alternative feed supplement for various livestock. This study aimed to lower the production cost by enhancing the antimicrobial activity of the postbiotic RS5 by improving the culture density of L. plantarum RS5 and reducing the cost of growth medium. A combination of conventional and statistical-based approaches (Fractional Factorial Design and Central Composite Design of Response Surface Methodology) was employed to develop a refined medium for the enhancement of the antimicrobial activity of postbiotic RS5. A refined medium containing 20 g/L of glucose, 27.84 g/L of yeast extract, 5.75 g/L of sodium acetate, 1.12 g/L of Tween 80 and 0.05 g/L of manganese sulphate enhanced the antimicrobial activity of postbiotic RS5 by 108%. The cost of the production medium was reduced by 85% as compared to the commercially available de Man, Rogosa and Sharpe medium that is typically used for Lactobacillus cultivation. Hence, the refined medium has made the postbiotic RS5 more feasible and cost-effective to be adopted as a feed supplement for various livestock industries.

Identification and characterization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa derived bacteriocin for industrial applications

Drug resistance has become a major threat due to the frequent use of commercial antibiotics and there is an urgent need to combat this problem. Having this in mind, the present research was aimed at developing a novel P. aeruginosa puBac bacteriocin molecule. The bacteriocin was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation followed by Sepharose FF and Sephadex G15 column purification and the purified bacteriocin has been reported to have the molar mass of 43 kDa. The findings of the optimization showed that 3500 AU/mL of bacteriocin was obtained at 37 °C, 3410 AU/mL of bacteriocin at 6.5 pH and 3780 AU/mL of bacteriocin at 48 h of incubation time. In addition, 3863 AU/mL of bacteriocin activity was obtained with Tween-80 followed by 3789 AU/mL with a concentration of 2% NaCl and 4200 AU/mL for Fe²⁺. PuBac bacteriocin has been shown to have a significant effect on test pathogens. For example, E. coli was found to have 3.6 μM of MIC, followed by Staphylococcus sp. with 6.15 μM of MIC and Bacillus sp. with a 7.5 μM of MIC. The remarkable properties of bacteriocin suggest that it could be used in various pharmaceutical and food industries.