• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.587-595
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• 2008

In order to develop a new starter for fermented milk, 1037 bacterial strains were isolated from raw milk. The strain that showed excellent acid producing and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity (88.6%) was selected and identified as a Lactobacillus zeae based on the result of API carbohydrate fermentation pattern and 16S rDNA sequence. Lactobacillus zeae RMK354 was investigated further to study its physiological characteristics. It showed strong ACE inhibitory activity compared with commercial LAB starters tested. The optimum growth temperature of L. zeae RMK354 was $40^{\circ}C$ and it took 10 hr to reach pH 4.3 under this condition. L. zeae RMK354 showed more sensitive to penicillin-G, bacitracin, novobiocin, in a comparison of 14 different antibiotics, and showed most resistance to polymyxin B and vancomycin. It showed higher esterase and leucine arylamidase activities compared with 16 other enzymes. It was comparatively tolerant to bile juice and able to survive at pH 2 for 3 hr. It showed inhibitory activity against Salmonella Typhimurium with the rate of 60%. Based on these and previous results, L. zeae RMK354 could be an excellent starter culture for fermented milk with high level of ACE inhibitory activity.

• Food Engineering Progress
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.292-298
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• 2010

Wheat germ contains the glycosylated forms of 2-methoxy-p-benzoquinone (2-MBQ) and 2,6-dimethoxy-p-benzoquinone (2,6-DMBQ), both of which have antimicrobial and immunostimulatory effects. Conversion of glycosylated 2-MBQ and 2,6-DMBQ to their more functional unglycosylated forms requires enzymatic action of $\beta$-glucosidase. We investigated the applications of lactic acid bacteria and yeast that produce $\beta$-glucosidase as starters for production of unglycosylated 2-MBQ and 2,6-DMBQ from wheat germ. Lactobacillus zeae and Pichia pijperi were selected through $\beta$-glucosidase enzyme assays for 37 yeast strains and five strains of lactic acid bacteria. Lb. zeae was more efficient than P. pijperi at producing 2-MBQ and 2,6-DMBQ from wheat germ. After 48 hr of fermentation with a mixed culture of Lb. zeae and P. pijperi, the concentration of 2-MBQ was 0.46${\pm}$0.07 mg/g, indicating an approximately 1.6-fold higher concentration than that obtained by pure culture of Lb. zeae. However, the concentration of 2,6-DMBQ was not significantly enhanced by fermentation with a mixed culture of Lb. zeae and P. pijperi.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.173-178
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• 2016

Phenyllactic acid (PLA), which is a known antimicrobial compound, can be synthesized through the reduction of phenylpyruvic acid (PPA) by lactate dehydrogenase of lactic acid bacteria (LAB). PLA-producing LAB was isolated from coffee beans, and the isolated LAB was identified as Lactobacillus zeae Y44 by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Cell-free supernatant (CFS) from L. zeae Y44 was assessed for both its capability to produce the antimicrobial compound PLA and its antifungal activity against three fungal pathogens (Rhizoctonia solani, Botrytis cinerea, and Colletotrichum aculatum). PLA concentration was found to be 4.21 mM in CFS when L. zeae Y44 was grown in MRS broth containing 5 mM PPA for 12 h. PLA production could be promoted by the supplementation with PPA and phenylalanine (Phe) in the MRS broth, but not affected by 4-hydroxy-phenylpyruvic acid, and inhibited by tyrosine as precursors. Antifungal activity assessment demonstrated that all fungal pathogens were sensitive to 5 % CFS (v/v) of L. zeae Y44 with average growth inhibitions ranging from 27.8 to 50.0 % (p<0.005), in which R. solani was the most sensitive with an inhibition of 50.0 %, followed by B. cinerea and C. aculatum. However, pH modification of CFS to pH 6.5 caused an extreme reduction in their antifungal activity. These results may indicate that the antifungal activity of CFS was caused by acidic compounds like PLA or organic acids rather than proteins or peptides molecules.