Lactic acid bacteria: isolation-characterization approaches and industrial applications.

The current state-of-art research pertaining to lactic acid bacteria (LAB) calls for the screening and isolation of robust LAB strains to achieve holistic exploitation of LAB and their metabolites of marketable importance. Hence it is imperative to comprehend LAB sources, growth requisites, isolation and characterization strategies necessary for featured cataloging and appropriate culturing. This review comprehensively describes various growth media and biomasses used for supporting LAB sustenance, assay procedures needed for the isolation and characterization of LAB strains, and their application in diverse sectors. The various industrial patents and their summarized claims about novel LAB strains isolated and identified, methods and media (used for detection/screening, isolation, adaptation, culturing, preservation, growth improvement), the techniques and/or methodologies supporting LAB fermentation, and applications of produced industrial metabolites in various market scenarios are detailed.

Improved viability of Lactobacillus acidophilus NRRL-B 4495 during freeze-drying in whey protein-pullulan microcapsules.

In this research, pullulan was incorporated in protein-based encapsulation matrix in order to assess its cryoprotective effect on the viability of freeze-dried (FD) probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus NRRL-B 4495. This study demonstrated that pullulan in encapsulation matrix resulted in a 90.4% survival rate as compared to 88.1% for whey protein (WPI) encapsulated cells. The protective effects of pullulan on the survival of FD-encapsulated cells in gastrointestinal conditions were compared. FD WPI-pullulan capsules retained higher survived cell numbers (7.10 log CFU/g) than those of FD WPI capsules (6.03 log CFU/g) after simulated gastric juice exposure. Additionally, use of pullulan resulted in an increased viability after bile exposure. FD-free bacteria exhibited 2.18 log CFU/g reduction, while FD WPI and FD WPI-pullulan encapsulated bacteria showed 0.95 and 0.49 log CFU/g reduction after 24 h exposure to bile solution, respectively. Morphology of the FD microcapsules was visualized by scanning electron microscopy.