Comparative study of Lactic Acid Bacteria in soy juice fermentation.

Objectifs/ObjectivesThe study aims to improve knowledge over LAB characteristics to ferment a commercial soy juice. Matériels et Méthodes/Materials and methodsFirst 280 strains of LAB from 23 different species of Lactococcus, Streptococcus, Lactobacillus and Leuconostoc genera were tested for their abilities to ferment soy juice containing sucrose, raffinose or stachyose as carbon source and to acidify synthetic media containing sucrose, raffinose or stachyose as unique carbon source. Then, fermented soy juices (FSJ) were produced by 10 h of fermentation (inoculation level 1 %), followed by 14 days of storage at 4 °C. The scents of FSJ were sensorially characterized and FSJ’s primary and secondary metabolites were analyzed. Résultats principaux/Main ResultsWithin 48 h, 39 % of L. lactis strains, 82 % of Lactobacillus strains and all S. thermophilus strains could acidify the synthetic medium with sucrose, as previously described in fermentation patterns of these species. 101 strains representing 18 species could use raffinose and 12 strains representing 6 species could use stachyose. 94 % of the strains that could use sucrose could also ferment soy juice, whose sucrose is the major sugar. Interestingly, 3 strains from species never tested to ferment soy juice, L. kunkeei, L. xiangfangensis and L. pontis revealed abilities to ferment soy juice. Among the 280 strains, 116 strains could acidify soy juice below 6.0 pH units within 10 h. Among the 116 corresponding FSJs, the scents of 48 FSJs were judged as acceptable. The use of sucrose was species-dependent: less residual sucrose was present in FSJs from strains of L. plantarum, L. pentosus, L. lactis, L. delbrueckii and L. coryniformis species compared to S. thermophilus strains. None of the strains used raffinose nor stachyose. S. thermophilus strains produced more lactic acid and less acetic acid than the other strains, in agreement with their homolactic metabolism. Due to acetic acid, FSJs from L. plantarum were more frequently described as ‘sour’. In addition, some strains presented specific traits. For example, CIRM-BIA2115 of L. plantarum produced a floral scent in FSJ likely related to the production of phenylethan-1-ol observed.  ConclusionThe present study is an advance on the knowledge of LAB diversity and their capacity to ferment soy juice. It shows that LAB capacity to use sucrose is important to ferment soy juice and highlights the importance of screening due to the diversity of LAB metabolism.