Characterization of natural isolate Lactobacillus acidophilus BGRA43 useful for acidophilus milk production

Lactobacillus acidophilus BGRA43 was selected from a set of human origin isolates of Lact. acidophilus strains for the highest growth rates and antagonistic effect against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The strain BGRA43 also exhibited an inhibitory effect on the growth of Clostridium sporogenes. Inhibition of this strain seems to be due to lactic acid production rather than hydrogen peroxide or bacteriocin. Growth of Lact. acidophilus BGRA43 in non-fat skim milk for 6 h at 37 degrees C resulted in a lowering of the pH value to 4.53. Besides the fast acidification, this strain generated a high viscosity of skim milk. These characteristics make the strain BGRA43 attractive for acidophilus milk production. Lactobacillus acidophilus BGRA43 produces an extracellular proteinase. Whole cells efficiently degraded casein for 3 h at 37 degrees C especially alpha- and beta-casein fractions. Total DNA isolated from the strain BGRA43 did not show any hybridization with lactococcal proteinase probes indicating that this strain produces a distinctive proteinase.