Aims: To investigate the capability, properties, and molecular mechanism of inulin fermentation by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from Sichuan pickle.
Methods and results: A total of 79 LAB strains were purified from 30 aged Sichuan pickle brine samples, and only 21 Lactiplantibacillus plantarum strains (26.58%, 21/79) derived from 15 samples grew well through utilizing inulin as a carbon source. The fermentation tests through using long-chain inulin (lc-inulin) as a carbon source showed that only 6 L. plantarum strains grew well, while other 15 strains could only utilize short-chain oligofructose (FOS), and thin-layer chromatography analysis evidenced a strain specificity of inulin consumption patterns. Lactiplantibacillus plantarum YT041 is a vigorous inulin fermenter, and whole genome sequencing data revealed that sacPTS1 and fosRABCDXE operons might be associated with the fermentation of FOS and lc-inulin, respectively.
Conclusions: The phenotype of inulin consumption is commonly present in LAB from Sichuan pickle, which is strain-specific and largely depends on their specific ecological niche and degree of polymerization.
Keywords: fermentation; fermented foods; lactic acid bacteria; metabolism; prebiotics.
© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Applied Microbiology International.