Novel Probiotic Candidates in Artisanal Feta-Type Kefalonian Cheese: Unveiling a Still-Undisclosed Biodiversity.

Autochthonous dairy lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolates encompass a natural source of starter, adjunct, or probiotic candidates. In this context, traditionally manufactured, using exclusively animal rennet, Feta-type cheeses were collected from five farms located in different regions of Kefalonia island (Greece). The primary objective of this study was to isolate and characterize novel LAB, thereby exploring the unmapped microbial communities of Kefalonian Feta-type cheese and identifying new potential probiotics.

Novel Probiotic/Bacterial Cellulose Biocatalyst for the Development of Functional Dairy Beverage.

The development of innovative functional products with potential health benefits, under the concept of bio-economy, is flourishing. This study undertook an evaluation of non-dairy lactobacilli Lactiplantibacillus pentosus B329 and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 820 as “ready to use” starter cultures. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) cultures were evaluated for their fermentation efficiency, before and after freeze-drying, using cheese whey (CW) as a fermentation substrate and subsequent immobilization on bacteria cellulose (BC) to produce a novel biocatalyst.

MALDI-TOF MS profiling of non-starter lactic acid bacteria from artisanal cheeses of the Greek island of Naxos.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS), a culture based alternative for microbial diversity studies, is an attractive tool to dereplicate large numbers of isolates to a smaller set of representatives for downstream characterization. In the present study, MALDI-TOF MS, combined with a database of reference spectra compiled in previous studies, was applied to identify 88 non-starter lactic acid bacteria (NSLAB) isolated from 18 samples of four different artisanal cheeses produced in the Island of Naxos, Greece, from raw sheep and goat milk without the addition of starters. Eighty-four isolates (95.

Dual Transcriptional Profile of during Co-Culture with and Aflatoxin B1 Production: A Pathogen-Pathogen Interaction.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of growth temperature and co-culture of with on the production of Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and the transcriptional profile of associated regulatory and biosynthetic genes. The transcription of virulence- and homeostasis-associated genes of was also assessed. For this purpose, mono- and co-cultures of strain LQC 15257 and strain 18.

Cheese Whey Processing: Integrated Biorefinery Concepts and Emerging Food Applications.

Cheese whey constitutes one of the most polluting by-products of the food industry, due to its high organic load. Thus, in order to mitigate the environmental concerns, a large number of valorization approaches have been reported; mainly targeting the recovery of whey proteins and whey lactose from cheese whey for further exploitation as renewable resources. Most studies are predominantly focused on the separate implementation, either of whey protein or lactose, to configure processes that will formulate value-added products.

Probiotics in Food Systems: Significance and Emerging Strategies Towards Improved Viability and Delivery of Enhanced Beneficial Value.

Preserving the efficacy of probiotic bacteria exhibits paramount challenges that need to be addressed during the development of functional food products. Several factors have been claimed to be responsible for reducing the viability of probiotics including matrix acidity, level of oxygen in products, presence of other lactic acid bacteria, and sensitivity to metabolites produced by other competing bacteria. Several approaches are undertaken to improve and sustain microbial cell viability, like strain selection, immobilization technologies, synbiotics development etc.

Control of Aspergillus carbonarius in grape berries by Lactobacillus plantarum: A phenotypic and gene transcription study.

The in vitro and in situ antifungal activity of Lactobacillus plantarum against the ochratoxigenic fungus Aspergillus carbonarius was investigated in this study. Four different fungal isolates from grape berries were co-cultured with four different strains of L. plantarum on Malt Extract Agar (MEA) plates at 30 °C.

Evaluating the efficacy of turbimetric measurements as a rapid screening technique to assess fungal susceptibility to antimicrobial compounds as exemplified by the use of sodium metabisulfite.

The in vitro susceptibility to sodium metabisulphite (NaMBS) was investigated in 10 different food spoilage filamentous fungi, namely Aspergillus flavus, A. carbonarius, A. niger, A.

Monitoring the Temporal Expression of Genes Involved in Ochratoxin A Production of Aspergillus carbonarius under the Influence of Temperature and Water Activity.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of environmental factors, namely temperature and water activity, on genes involved in the regulation of ochratoxin A (OTA) production over time. For this purpose, the previously characterized toxigenic Ac29 isolate from Greek vineyards and the ITEM 5010 reference strain were subjected to combined temperature and water activity (a) treatments to study OTA production and relative gene expression. The fungal isolates were grown on a synthetic grape juice liquid medium (SGM) under different temperature (20 °C, 25 °C and 30 °C) and a (0.

Comparative study of growth responses and screening of inter-specific OTA production kinetics by A. carbonarius isolated from grapes.

The aim of this work was to assess OchratoxinA (OTA) production of different Aspergillus carbonarius isolates, evaluate their growth profile through different growth measurements, and reveal any underlying correlation between them. Ten different isolates of A. carbonarius isolated from Greek vineyards located in different geographical regions were examined in vitro for their OTA production potential after an incubation period of up to 11 days.