Evaluation of antimicrobial activity of Enterococcus mundtii CRL35 in whey

SALVUCCI, EMILIANO; PESCUMA, MICAELA; BUSTOS, ANA YANINA; SESMA, FERNANDO

BIOCELL

Año: 2008

0327-9545

In Argentina, regional cheeses are made with non pasteurized milk with high microbiological risk. Some cheeses are manufactured with whey and fermented for 20 h with a temperature gradient that favours the selection of specific strains that confers specific characteristics of each cheese. Enterococcus mundtii CRL35, isolated from artisanal cheese from Tucumán, produces enterocin CRL35, a subclass IIa bacteriocin with antilisterial activity. In order to improve the microbiological quality of argentinian cheeses, in this preliminar work we evaluated the ability of this strain to produce enterocin CRL35 in whey, an economic media with technological applicability. In whey, the producer strain grows slightly low than in the optimal media LAPTg (2,1.109 vs. 2,2.1010 CFU/mL. after 8 h). Also the bacteriocin production was lesser  than in LAPTg (1,5.104 Arbitrary Units per mililiter [AU/mL] vs. 1,2.105 in LAPTg). These levels of activity could be associated to the differences in growth. The production of bacteriocin in whey is accompanied with low pH variation. This study demonstrates the production of this antimicrobial peptide in whey, an economic media of interest for their applicability at industrial levels.