Effect of a sub-lethal High Pressure Homogenization treatment on the metabolism and on the outermost cell structures of probiotic lactobacilli

TABANELLI, G.; VERNOCCHI, P.; PATRIGNANI, F.; DEL CHIERICO, F.; PUTIGNANI, L.; VINDEROLA G.; REINHEIMER, J.; GARDINI, F.; LANCIOTTI, R.

Frontiers in Microbiology

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2015 vol. 6 p. 1006 - 1016

High Pressure of Homogenization (HPH) has been proposed to be applied directly to lactic acid bacteria cells at sub-lethal levels in order to enhance some functional properties. Since the principal target of HPH are the cell surface envelope structures, the aim of this work was to study the effect of a HPHhigh pressure treatment, applied at 50 MPa, on cell membrane stress responses of already-known functional strains, isolated from Argentinean products. Specifically, the membrane fatty acid composition of cells before and after the sub-lethal treatment has beenwas investigated and the results achieved showed that plasma membranes, their level of unsaturation and their composition are involved in response mechanisms adopted by microbial cells when subjected to a sub-lethal HPH stress. In fact, the data obtained demonstrated that the treatment was able to modify the fatty acid profile of the different strains, although an uniform response for all the strains to the sub-lethal treatment was not observed. Further studies are necessary both to elucidate the role of each fatty acids in the cell response mechanisms and to clarify the changes in membrane compositions induced by HPHhigh pressure homogenization treatment also in relation to the applicative potential of this technique.