Influence of freezing temperatures prior to freeze-drying on viability of yeasts and lactic acid bacteria isolated from wine.

AIMS: To determine the effect of three different freezing temperatures on post-freeze-drying survival rates of wine yeasts and lactic acid bacteria (LAB). To know if a similar freeze-drying protocol can be used for both micro-organisms. METHODS AND RESULTS: Cells from liquid culture media were recovered and concentrated in appropriate lyoprotectants. Aliquots of each strain were frozen at -20, -80 and -196°C before vacuum drying. Viable cell counts were done before freezing and after freeze-drying. Survival rates were calculated. Freezing temperatures differently affected yeast and bacteria survival. The highest survival rates were obtained at -20 and -80°C for yeasts, but at -196°C for LAB. Major differences in survival rates were recorded among freeze-dried yeasts, but were less drastic for LAB. Yeasts Pichia membranifaciens, Starmerella bacillaris and Metschnikowia pulcherrima, and LAB Lactobacillus paracasei, Pediococcus parvulus and Lactobacillus mali, were the most tolerant species to freeze-drying, regardless of freezing temperature. CONCLUSIONS: Yeast and LAB survival rates differed for each tested freezing temperature. For yeasts, -20°C ensured the highest post-freeze-drying viability and -196°C for LAB. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Freezing temperature to freeze-dry cells is a crucial factor for ensuring good wine yeast and LAB survival. These results are important for appropriately preserving micro-organisms and for improving starter production processes.

Administration of Lactobacillus johnsonii FI9785 to chickens affects colonisation by Campylobacter jejuni and the intestinal microbiota.

1. Campylobacter jejuni is the most common bacterial cause of human food-borne gastroenteritis in the world. A major source of human infection is the consumption of contaminated meat, particularly poultry. New control measures to reduce or eliminate this pathogen from the animal gastrointestinal tract are urgently required, and the use of probiotics as competitive exclusion agents is a promising biocontrol measure to reduce C. jejuni in the food chain. 2. In this study, we assessed the potential of Lactobacillus johnsonii FI9785, which has shown efficacy against Clostridium perfringens, to combat C. jejuni. The effect of prophylactic administration of L. johnsonii on the ability of C. jejuni to colonise chickens was determined. 3. Two doses of L. johnsonii given a week apart led to a reduction in C. jejuni colonisation in the caecal contents, but this biocontrol seemed reliant upon a high level of initial colonisation by the probiotic. 4. The microbial composition in the chicken gut was significantly altered by the probiotic treatment, as shown by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. 5. Together these results demonstrate the potential of this probiotic strain to be tested further as a competitive exclusion agent in poultry against C. jejuni.