Selection of Dominant NSLAB from a Mature Traditional Cheese According to their Technological Properties and in vitro Intestinal Challenges

Abstract: Isolates (47) of lactobacilli from 5 different productions of Melichloro cheese were examined for potential use as adjunct cultures. The sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS‐PAGE) of whole‐cell proteins classified 29 isolates as L. paraplantarum and 18 as L. paracasei subsp. paracasei. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA‐polymerase chain reaction (RAPD‐PCR) analysis differentiated the L. paraplantarum and L. paracasei subsp. paracasei isolates at strain level and both, RAPD analysis and whole‐cell protein profiling provided useful information about the diversity of nonstarter lactic acid bacteria (NSLAB) in the different cheese productions. The isolates were slow acidifiers and about 70% of them degraded, preferentially α_s‐casein. The amounts of amino acids accumulated in the milk increased with the incubation time. A similar enzyme profile was exhibited by strains of both species, except for α‐mannosidase and α‐fucosidase, which were not detected in the L. paracasei subsp. paracasei strains. All strains grew in the presence of bile at 0.3% and the majority was able to withstand pH 2.5 and pancreatin at 0.1%. Moreover, all strains reduced cholesterol in vitro, with higher removal ability recorded for strains of L. paraplantarum. A narrow spectrum of antibacterial activity was recorded for 88% of the strains. Selected isolates with appropriate technological and interesting in vitro intestinal challenges could be used as adjuncts and deserve further studies. Practical Application: Strains selected by this study could be used as adjuncts to make the Melichloro cheese. Their contribution to cheese flavor is then going to be studied to select the most appropriate. Of course these strains have to be also studied for their probiotic potential, to say that we have a probiotic food.