Estimation of vaginal probiotic lactobacilli growth parameters with the application of the Gompertz model

Lactobacilli are widely described as probiotic microorganisms used to restore the ecological balance of different animal or human tracts. For their use as probiotics, bacteria must show certain characteristics or properties related to the ability of adherence to mucosae or epithelia or show inhibition against pathogenic microorganisms. It is of primary interest to obtain the highest biomass and viability of the selected microorganisms. In this report, the growth of seven vaginal lactobacilli strains in four different growth media and at several inoculum percentages was compared, and the values of growth parameters (lag phase time, maximum growth rate, maximum optical density) were obtained by applying the Gompertz model to the experimental data. The application and estimation of this model is discussed, and the evaluation of the growth parameters is analyzed to compare the growth conditions of lactobacilli. Thus, these results in lab experiments provide a basis for testing different culture conditions to determine the best conditions in which to grow the probiotic lactobacilli for technological applications.