Antimicrobial activity of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains against pathogenic microorganisms "in vitro"

Lactobacilli and bifidobacteria have a long history of safe use in foods. These bacteria have biotechnological characteristics of interest such as the inhibition of pathogens. In this work, two lactobacilli strain and a bifidobacterium strain isolated from human gut were evaluated concerning to their ability to inhibit pathogenic microorganisms in foods by diffusion agar tests. Moreover, we assessed the metabolites produced in culture broth under static and shaking growth to simulate anaerobiosis and aerobiosis conditions, respectively. L. acidophilus LA5, L. plantarum DCTA 8420 and B. lactis DCTA 8724 showed ability to inhibit S. aureus FRI 196, strains producer toxins A and D, as well as B. cereus ATCC 25923, E. coli ATCC 25922 and S. Enteritidis, whose inhibition halos reached, on average, 24 mm in diameter. In the agar diffusion method with concentrated culture medium, it was possible to observe the effect of oxygen on the production of toxic substances. This result showed that cultivation of Lactobacillus under aerobic conditions seems to exert greater inhibitory effect, whereas for Bifidobacterium strain the effect was the opposite.