Analysis on Anti-listerial Properties of Beer Fermented by Bacteriocin Leucocin C Secreting Saccharomyces boulardii

Saccharomyces boulardii is a probiotic yeast related to Saccharomyces cerevisiae but with distinct genetic, taxonomic, and metabolic properties. S. cerevisiae has been used extensively in biotechnological applications. Currently, many strains are available, and multiple genetic tools have been developed, which allow the expression of several exogenous proteins of interest with applications in the fields of medicine, biofuels, the food industry, and scientific research, among others. Although S. boulardii has been widely studied due to its probiotic properties against several gastrointestinal tract disorders, very few studies addressed the use of this yeast as a vector for expression of foreign genes of interest with biotechnological applications. I studied the previously constructed S. boulardii SAC12, which secretes the anti-listerial bacteriocin leucocin C originating from Leuconostoc carnosum 4010. The objective was to study if the bacteriocin leucocin C producing S. boulardii could produce leucocin C in beer fermentation and if leucocin C containing beer can be used as marinade to control Listeria monocytogenes in raw chicken breast strips. The results showed that SAC12 has good ability to secrete LecC, and thus it was used to brew anti-listerial beer. According to results, beer could maintain its anti-listerial activity for 38 days. The anti-listerial effect of the beer stored for different times was analyzed through marinating chicken breast strips (spiked with L. monocytogenes) with the beer for overnight. Results indicated a positive impact of anti-listerial beer in reduction of the viable cells of L. monocytogenes by about 1.6 log from (2.2 ± 0.6) × 10⁷ CFU/g (beer from day 24), and 2.2 log from (1.8 ± 0.3) × 10⁵ CFU/g (beer from day 38). To sum up, the S. boulardii SAC12 efficiently secreted the bacteriocin leucocin C. Brewing beer with S. boulardii SAC12 resulted in beer containing leucocin C. Such beer showed anti-listerial effect when used as marinade for chicken breast strips.