ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Food Science Technology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1622745
This article is part of the Research TopicRheological Properties of Functional and Future FoodsView all 4 articles
Screening of LAB strains and their co-culture fermentation with Bacillus subtilis of Cili fruit substrate: Impact on γ-Aminobutyric acid enrichment, key enzyme activities, bioactive and functional properties
Provisionally accepted
- Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China
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In this study, 20 lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains were screened for glutamic acid decarboxylase activity (GAD); and used as co-culture starters with Bacillus subtilis to enrich the γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) content in Cili fruit. Changes in physiochemical properties, key enzyme activities, bioactive composition and functional properties in the co-culture fermented Cili fruit substrate was reported. Five of twenty LABs exhibited adequate GAD activity, but only 3 strains (Levilactobacillus brevis DS4-15: BsLb, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum N2-9: BsLp, Limosilactobacillus fermentum BT2-3: BsLf), enhanced the GABA content in Cili fruit at the optimized co-culture fermentation conditions. Compared to B. subtilis fermented substrate (Bs), a significant decrease in pH (4.89, except BsLf), increase in TTA (19.30-29.20mL) was observed after co-culture fermentation of Cili fruit. Moreover, higher GABA (102.48-585mg/kg), total phenol (256-275.17 GAE/g), total flavonoid (140.54-172.33 QE/g), and total free amino acid (2278.37-6191.39 mg/kg FW), but decreased vitamin C (740.48-960.59mg/kg FW) content was observed after co-culture fermentation, especially in the order BsLf, then BsLp, and BsLb. Subsequently, the antioxidant activity and anti-hangover properties increased in BsLf, BsLp and BsLb compared to Bs and unfermented Cili fruit. The changes observed were attributed to LAB strains' ability to alter pH during co-culture fermentation with B. subtilis which was optimal for increased enzyme activities of esterase, β-glucosidase, GAD, protease and ascorbate oxidase during co-culture fermentation (BsLf>BsLp>BsLb). This increased the release of bioactive metabolites in Cili fruit and enhanced its functional properties. These findings reveal that there was a synergy in co-culture fermentation which improved the bioactive and functional properties of Cili fruit as a novel GABA enriched ingredient for potential use in the food industry.
Keywords: Cili fruit, Co-culture fermentation, Lactic acid bacteria, Bacillus subtilis, γ-Aminobutyric acid
Received: 04 May 2025; Accepted: 23 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Uriho, Omedi, Chen, Chen, Zhang, Liang, Xu, Li and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Weining Huang, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China
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