Genetic screening of functional properties of lactic acid bacteria in a fermented pearl millet slurry and in the metagenome of fermented starchy foods.

ABSTRACT: Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (n = 152) in African pearl millet slurries and in the metagenomes of amylaceous fermented foods were investigated by screening 33 genes involved in probiotic and nutritional functions. All isolates belonged to six species of the genera Pediococcus and Lactobacillus, and Lactobacillus fermentum was the dominant species. We screened the isolates for the abilities to survive passage through the gastrointestinal tract and to synthesize folate and riboflavin. The isolates were also tested in vitro for their abilities to survive exposure to bile salts and to survive at pH 2. Because the ability to hydrolyze starch confers an ecological advantage on LAB that grow in starchy matrixes as well as improving the nutritional properties of the gruels, we screened for genes inv

SUBMITTER: Turpin W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3233104 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature