Applicability of a Lactobacillus amylovorus strain as co-culture for obtaining a novel naturally bio-enriched in folate fermented milk

LAIÑO, J. E.; JUAREZ DEL VALLE, M.; SAVOY DE GIORI, G.; LEBLANC, J.G.

Egmond aan Zee

Simposio; 11th International Symposium on Lactic Acid Bacteria; 2014

The ability of 55 strains from different Lactobacillus species to produce folate was investigated. In order to evaluate folic acid productivity, lactobacilli were cultivated in the folate-free culture medium (FACM). Most of the tested strains needed folate for growth. The production and the extent of vitamin accumulation were distinctive features of individual strains. L. amylovorus CRL887 was selected for further studies because of its ability to produce significantly higher concentrations of vitamin (81.2 ± 5.4 µg/L). The safety of this newly identified folate producing strain was evaluated in healthy mice. No bacterial translocation was detected in liver and spleen after consumption of CRL887 during 7 d and no undesirable side effects were observed in the animals that received this strain. This strain in co-culture with previously selected folate producing starter cultures (L. bulgaricus CRL871, and Streptococcus thermophilus CRL803 and CRL415) yielded a yogurt containing high folate concentrations (263.1 ± 2.4 µg/L); a single portion of which would provide 14 % of the Recommended Dietary Allowance. This is the first report about the capacity of L. amylovorus to grow and produce folates, and it was successfully elaborated a yogurt naturally bio-enriched in folate.