Optimisation of Lactobacillus fermentation conditions and its application in the fermentation of salt-free sauerkraut

Wenlun Wang; Wenbing Li; Yan Huang; Ying Yang; Hui Liu; Chaohang Yu; Qing Yuan; Lianmin He; Qianmin Hu; Ye Li; Taoyan Meng; Huanhuan Chen; Jiabi Liao; Ou Chen; Shirui Yu; Feng Zhang

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2024.1482163

Optimisation of Lactobacillus fermentation conditions and its application in the fermentation of salt-free sauerkraut

Front Microbiol. 2024 Oct 21:15:1482163. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1482163. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Wenlun Wang^#^{1

2}, Wenbing Li^#¹, Yan Huang^#¹, Ying Yang^#¹, Hui Liu^#¹, Chaohang Yu^#¹, Qing Yuan^#¹, Lianmin He¹, Qianmin Hu¹, Ye Li¹, Taoyan Meng¹, Huanhuan Chen¹, Jiabi Liao¹, Ou Chen¹, Shirui Yu¹, Feng Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food Science and Engineering, Moutai Institute, Zunyi, China.
² Department of Biology and Chemistry, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

To identify what are the dominant lactic acid bacteria (LAB) involved in the fermentation of salt-free sauerkraut, and optimize its industrial culture conditions, we isolated and identified a strain of LAB, which is referred to as Lactobacillus sp. DF_001, with the preservation number CCTCC NO: M20232593, from five different regions in Guizhou Province. Industrial culture conditions were optimized using Plackett-Burman and Central Composite design experiments, and the potential role of this LAB in salt-free sauerkraut fermentation was validated. Bioproduction was optimal with a culture time of 66 h, starch/water ratio of 1.7% and inoculum of 0.02%, which gave approximately three-fold higher yield than the basal culture medium DeMan-Rogosa-Sharpe medium (MRS). The LAB was used in small-scale industrial experiments. The Dafang LAB significantly enhanced the sensory score of the salt-free sauerkraut products by about 32% compared to the control group. The total acid content increased by about 32% and the sugar and nitrite contents were reduced by 67.27 and 69.58%, respectively. The total number of bacterial colonies decreased by 37.5%. All other indicators complied with the national standard, providing overall the basis to improve salt-free sauerkraut fermentation.

Keywords: Plackett-Burman experiment; central composite design; lactic acid bacteria; probiotics; salt-free sauerkraut.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was funded by Zunyi Technology and Big Data Bureau, Moutai Institute Joint Science and Technology Research and Development Project, grant number: (ZSKHHZ[2021]No.332); The Youth Science and Technology Talent Growth Project of Guizhou Province Education Department (No. [2024]262); The Special Funds for Local Scientific and Technological Development Guided by the Central Government from Guizhou Science, grant number:((2019)4006); The Engineering Research Center supported by Guizhou Provincial Education Department, grant number: (KY[2020]022); The Moutai Institute high-level talents research fund project, grant number: (mygccrc[2022]087); The Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, grant number: (CX20190003), the Research Foundation for Scientific Scholars of Moutai Institute, grant number: (mygccrc[2023]011), and Supported by Guizhou Provincial Basic Research Program (Natural Science), (No. QiankeHeJiChu-ZK[2024]-YiBan-659).