Identification and biotechnological characterization of lactic acid bacteria isolated from chickpea sourdough in northwestern Argentina

SÁEZ, GABRIEL D.; SAAVEDRA, LUCILA; HEBERT, ELVIRA M.; ZÁRATE, GABRIELA

LEBENSMITTEL-WISSENSCHAFT UND-TECHNOLOGIE-FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2018 vol. 93 p. 249 - 256

0023-6438

Chickpea, arelevant legume worldwide, can be nutritional and functionally improved byfermentation with lactic acid bacteria (LAB). In order to select suitableautochthonous starter cultures, we isolated and identified LAB from kabulichickpeas cultivated and consumed in northwestern Argentina, and screened theirrelevant techno-functional properties. Chickpeas were milled and spontaneouslyfermented with daily back-slopping at 37 °C for 6 days and evolution ofmicrobial populations were followed by plate counting. Phenotypic and genotypicmethods including (GTG)5-based PCR fingerprinting and 16S rDNA sequencing wereused to differentiate and identify the isolates to species level. A markedincrease of LAB counts was observed throughout fermentation raising from 0.88 ±0.35 log CFU/g of unfermented flours to 9.61 ± 0.21 log CFU/g after 5backslopping steps with a concomitant pH decline from 6.09 ± 0.05 to 4.40 ±0.03. Eighteen strains belonging to four LAB genera and six species:Enterococcus durans, E. mundtii, Lactococcus garvieae, Pediococcus pentosaceus,Weissella cibaria and W. paramesenteroides were identified in chickpeasourdoughs. Based on their abilities, Weissella cibaria CRL 2205 (acidificationcapacity), W. paramesenteroides CRL 2191 (proteolytic activity), Pediococcuspentosaceus CRL 2145 (gallate decarboxylase and peptidase activities),Lactococcus garviae CRL 2199 (α-galactosidase activity) and E. durans CRL 2193 (antimicrobialactivity), were selected to design novel fermented chickpea products.