The objective of this study was to assess the effects of some culture conditions [temperature (20, 30, 37 °C), incubation time (48, 72, 120 h), pH (5.0, 6.0, 7.0), NaCl concentration (0, 3, 6%), carbon (glucose, fructose, lactose), nitrogen (sodium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, bacto-peptone), and mineral sources (calcium carbonate, ferric chloride)] on the exopolysaccharide (EPS) production by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains (belonging to Lactobacillus (L.) plantarum, L. namurensis, and Pediococcus (P.) ethanolidurans species) isolated from naturally fermented pickles. The maximum EPS production was determined at 30 °C and pH 6.0. The highest amount of EPS was obtained after 120 h of incubation, with glucose as carbon source, bacto-peptone as nitrogen source and calcium carbonate as mineral source for most of the tested strains. The EPS formation was not stimulated by NaCl, indicating that EPS formation of the tested strains was not a stress response. L. plantarum MF460 produced the highest amount of EPS at 30 °C after 48 h of incubation, which was 515.48 mg/L. One of the most pronounced results of this study was that the EPS production of L. plantarum MF556 strain was increased up to 512.81 mg/L with the addition of calcium carbonate to MRS medium. The effect of different culture conditions, particularly of incubation time, carbon, nitrogen, and mineral sources, on the EPS production often vary depending on the strain. Therefore, these apparent strain specific results demonstrated that the optimum culture conditions for the enhanced EPS production should be specifically determined for each LAB strain.
Keywords: Culture conditions; Exopolysaccharide; Lactic acid bacteria; Pickles.