Effect of culture conditions on lactic acid production of Tetragenococcus species.

AIMS: To investigate the effects of the salt concentration, incubation temperature and initial pH of the medium on the fermentative ability of the halophilic lactic acid bacteria, Tetragenococcus muriaticus and T. halophilus. METHOD AND RESULTS: The growth, lactic acid production and pH reduction ability of five strains of T. muriaticus and T. halophilus in MRS broth medium under various culture conditions such as salt concentration (3, 7, 15 and 23% NaCl), temperature (20, 30 and 40 degrees C), and initial medium pH (5.8, 6.5 and 7.5) were investigated. Those of T. halophilus were seriously affected by a high salinity (23% NaCl); in contrast, those of T. muriaticus were affected by a low initial pH (5.8). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that high saline concentrations and low pH values have significant impact on the growth, lactic acid production and pH reduction ability of T. halophilus and T. muriaticus, respectively. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This study appears to be important in biopreservation during the manufacture of fermented food products. Both T. muriaticus and T. halophilus may support each other in reducing pH in hypersaline or low pH environment. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the fermentation ability of T. muriaticus.

Defatting and desalting treatment of indonesian dried-salted fish: dietary effects on alpha-tocopherol and peroxide levels in the serum and liver of rats.

The main problem with dried-salted fish (DSF) products is lipid oxidation. PUFA of fish oil is very easily oxidized, and sodium chloride is known to be a pro-oxidant. Many researchers have found that the products of lipid oxidation had negative effects on a variety of species, so we evaluated the effect of a desalting and defatting treatment on the lipid oxidation of Indonesian DSF. The dietary effect of untreated DSF, defatted DSF and desalted DSF on diarrhea, on the internal organs, on hepatic, serum, and urinary lipid peroxidation, and on hepatic and serum alpha-tocopherol were evaluated by using rats. The defatting treatment had a significant effect (p < 0.01) on reducing the lipid oxidation variables of the DSF sample and on protecting the rats from diarrhea. Compared with the rats in the casein group, these in the untreated DSF group had significantly higher values (p < 0.05) for hepatic, serum and urinary lipid peroxidation, but significantly lower values for hepatic and serum alpha-tocopherol. No significant differences were observed between the rats fed with casein and defatted DSF.

Effects of angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitory substances derived from Indonesian dried-salted fish on blood pressure of rats.

Indonesian dried-salted fish (DSF) was produced from skipjack tuna by soaking the flesh in 15% NaCl (DSF I) or 25% NaCl (DSF II). The DSFs were then hydrolyzed by trypsin, chymotrypsin, Pronase E, and pepsin. Angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity was measured. The pepsin digest showed the highest inhibitory activity (IC50; 0.63 mg protein/ml). DSF II hydrolysate had higher inhibitory activity than that in DSF I. A three-month storage period of DSF gave higher ACE-inhibitory activity than that of 6 months. An oral administration of pepsin hydrolysate significantly decreased the blood pressure of rats. From the purification steps, at least 4 inhibitor peptides were found. The amino acid sequences of the peptides were Val-Ala-Trp-Lys-Leu, Trp-Ser-Lys-Val-Val-Leu, Ser-Lys-Val-Pro-Pro, and Cys-Trp-Leu-Pro-Val-Tyr, with an IC50 value of 31.97, 156.28, 74.22, and 22.20 microM, respectively.