Development of a low pollution medium for the cultivation of lactic acid bacteria

Protein rich culture media are employed in the production of lactic acid bacteria (LAB); however, production costs are high. In this work media formulation and evaluation for LAB production were conducted considering physiological properties of lactic acid bacteria. Consumption efficiency (E), yield production (Y) and specific substrate consumption rate (q_S) values as response variables were used. Four culture media were used: (1) Man Rogosa Sharp (MRS); (2) cabbage liquor (MC); (3) a new balanced culture medium (MX); and (4) MX supplemented with cabbage liquor (MXC). The culture media were evaluated using two strains: Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4356 and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum ATCC 10241. The E_GLU for L. plantarum was 100 % in the three media and Y_X/S value was 0.02 ± 0.003 in MRS and MX, while Y_LAC/S was 0.57 ± 0.03 in MRS and 0.51 ± 0.02 in MX. In MXC, the value obtained for Y_X/S was 0.07 ± 0.002 while Y_LAC/S was 0.47 ± 0.04. Specific glucose consumption and lactate formation rates for L. plantarum in MRS and MX media did not show significant differences. These results suggest that MX and MXC can be used for efficient production of the LAB at low cost.