Production of lactic acid bacteria on spent cabbage juice

Author: Claude P. Champagne ^*, Tony Savard and Julie Barrette

Received 12 January 2009, accepted 29 March 2009.

Abstract

Spent cabbage juice (SCJ) is a by-product of sauerkraut manufacture. In this study, the potential of SCJ to be used as a growth medium for lactic cultures and probiotic bacteria was evaluated. Lactobacillus plantarum S1, Leuconostoc mesenteroides S4, Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC 10241, Lactobacillus acidophilus LB45 and Lactobacillus casei LB10 all grew well in fresh cabbage juice (FCJ). In fermentations carried out under external pH control (constant pH of 5.8 maintained by alkali addition) in FCJ or SCJ, growth of Leuc. mesenteroides S4 and L. plantarum S1 was similar in both media and reached populations well above 10⁹ CFU/mL. The maximum growth rates of the cultures in FCJ were similar to those in MRS, but biomass levels were higher in MRS. The higher biomass levels reached in MRS were not due to lack of carbohydrates in SCJ because both media were supplemented by glucose and fructose to 25 and 20 g/L, respectively. The addition of 5 g/L yeast extract (YE) or 15 g/L of soy peptones to SCJ did not improve the biomass yields. Some preliminary data suggest that there could be important effects of SCJ lot on biomass production. Automated spectrophotometry could be used to assess the quality of the lots in this respect.

Key words: Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, sauerkraut, spent cabbage juice, starter production.