Inhibition of Aflatoxin Production of Aspergillus flavus by Lactobacillus casei

Lactobacillus casei KC-324 was tested for its ability to inhibit aflatoxin production and mycelial growth of Aspergillus flavus ATCC 15517 in liquid culture. flatoxin $B_{1}$ biosynthesis and mycelial growth were inhibited in both simultaneous culture and individual antagonism assays, suggesting that the inhibitory activity was due to extracellular metabolites. produced in cell-free supernatant fluids of the cultured broth of L. casei KC-324. In cell-free supernatant fluids of all media tested, deMan, Rogosa and Sharpe broth, potato dextrose broth, and Czapek-Dox broth+1% yeast extract showed higher antiaflatoxigenic activity. In these case, fungal growths, however, was not affected as measured by mycelial dry weight. The antiaflatoxigenic metabolites from L. casei KC-324 were produced over wide range of temperatures between $25^{\circ}C$ and $37^{\circ}C$. However, these metabolites were not thermostable since the inhibitory activity of the supernatant was inactivated within 30 minutes at $100^{\circ}C$ and $121^{\circ}C$. The inhibitory activity was not influenced by changing pH of supernatant between 4 and 10. However, the antiaflatoxigenic activity was slightly reduced at pH 10.