Production of natural folates by lactic acid bacteria starter cultures isolated from artisanal Argentinean yogurts

Citations Over TimeTop 10% of 2012 papers

Abstract

Folate is a B-group vitamin that cannot be synthesized by humans and must be obtained exogenously. Although some species of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) can produce folates, little is known about the production of this vitamin by yogurt starter cultures. Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus strains were isolated from artisanal Argentinean yogurts and were grown in folate-free culture medium (FACM) and nonfat milk after which intracellular and extracellular folate production were evaluated. From the initial 92 isolated LAB strains, 4 L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and 32 S. thermophilus were able to grow in the absence of folate. Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus CRL 863 and S. thermophilus CRL 415 and CRL 803 produced the highest extracellular folate levels (from 22.3 to 135 µg/L) in FACM. In nonfat milk, these strains were able to increase the initial folate concentrations by almost 190%. This is the first report where native strains of L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus were shown to produce natural folate. The LAB strains identified in this study could be used in developing novel fermented products bio-enriched in natural folates that could in turn be used as an alternative to fortification with the controversial synthetic chemical folic acid.

Related Papers

• → Isolation and characterization ofLactobacillus delbrueckiissp.bulgaricusandStreptococcus thermophilusfrom plants in Bulgaria(2007)78 cited
• → Isolation and characterization of yogurt starter cultures from traditional yogurts and growth kinetics of selected cultures under lab-scale fermentation(2022)11 cited
• → Application of Streptococcus thermophilus DPC1842 as an adjunct to counteract bacteriophage disruption ina predominantly lactococcal Cheddar cheese starter: use in bulk starter culture systems(2001)16 cited
• Growth and fermentation activity of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. Bulgaricus in milk. A calorimetric investigation(1997)
• Variations in fermentative activity of Streptococcus thermophilus before and after lyophilization(2001)