Autohtoni sojevi roda Lactobacillus izolirani iz Istarskog sira kao potencijalne starter kulture

Istrian ewe’s milk cheese is an autochthonous product that is manufactured for generations on small family farms in the Croatian peninsula Istria. Traditional Istrian cheese is made from unpasteurized ewe’s milk, without the addition of starter cultures. Consequently, the specific flavour and texture of the Istrian cheese is owed to metabolic processes of indigenous microflora of which Lactobacillus species play pivotal role. Characterisation and selection of indigenous lactobacilli may result in the potential use of selected strains as starter, bioprotective or even probiotic cultures. This study focuses on potential use of Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus casei isolated from traditional Istrian cheese as starter cultures, by using methods that determine their proteolytic, lipolytic, antimicrobial and haemolytic potential, as well as their ability of acidification, autoaggregation and survival in simulated gastrointestinal conditions. Our results indicated that from 12 representative strains most revealed a low or moderate proteolytic activity as well as absence of lipolytic and haemolytic activities. From 12 strains, 5 of them showed a medium to strong acidification ability and lowered the pH of milk below 5.00 after 24 hours of incubation. Furthermore, almost all isolates exhibited antimicrobial activity against Serratia marcescens, and lowest number of isolates showed antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria innocua. The studied Lactobacillus strains revealed high survival rate in a simulated oral cavity and duodenum conditions, while the survival ability in a simulated gastric conditions was much lower. Ability to aggregate was low for all tested strains, after 3 hours and after 5 hours of incubation.Tradicionalni Istarski sir proizvodi se od nepasteriziranog ovčjeg mlijeka, bez dodatka starter kultura. Prema tome, specifična aroma i tekstura Istarskog sira pripisuje se, uz ostale faktore, metaboličkim procesima autohtone mikroflore od kojih vrste roda Lactobacillus imaju ključnu ulogu. Karakterizacija i izbor autohtonih sojeva laktobacila može dovesti do potencijalnog korištenje odabranih sojeva kao starter, zaštitnih ili probiotičkih kultura. U ovom istraživanju željeli smo istražiti tehnološki i probiotički potencijal sojeva Lactobacillus plantarum i Lactobacillus casei izoliranih iz tradicionalnog Istarskog sira pomoću metoda koje određuju njihov proteolitički, kazeinolitički, lipolitički, antimikrobni i hemolitički potencijal, kao i njihovu sposobnost zakiseljavanja, autoagregacije i preživljavanja u simuliranim gastrointestinalnim uvjetima. Svih 12 reprezentativnih sojeva pokazuju nisku do umjerenu proteolitičku aktivnost te odsutnost lipolitičke i hemolitičke aktivnosti. Od 12 sojeva, 5 je pokazalo jaku sposobnost zakiseljavanja, spuštajući pH mlijeka ispod 5,00 nakon 24 sati inkubacije. Nadalje, gotovo svi izolati pokazuju antimikrobno djelovanje u odnosu na vrstu Serratia marcescens te slabo antimikrobno djelovanje u odnosu na Staphylococcus aureus i Listeria innocua. Istraživani sojevi pokazali su visoku prosječnu stopu preživljavanja u simuliranim uvjetima usne šupljine i dvanaesnika, dok je prosječna stopa preživljavanja u simuliranim želučanim uvjetima bila znatno niža. Nakon 5 sati inkubacije, autoagregacijska sposobnost svih istraživanih sojeva bila je niska