Arginine, citrulline and ornithine metabolism by lactic acid bacteria from wine

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The catabolism of arginine, an amino acid found in grape juice and wine, citrulline and ornithine was investigated in four lactic acid bacteria. Only Lactobacillus hilgardii X 1B catabolized arginine and excreted citrulline into the medium. The recovery of arginine as ornithine was lower than the expected theoretical value. The arginase-urease pathway was not detected indicating that the amino acid degradation was carried out only by the arginine dihydrolase pathway. Oenococcus oeni m, a strain not able to utilize arginine, degraded citrulline that was completely recovered as ornithine, ammonia and CO 2. Lactobacillus hilgardii X 1B catabolized citrulline but it was only 44% recovered as ornithine. The citrulline utilization by Oenococcus oeni m may be important for two reasons: it can gain extra energy for growth from citrulline metabolism, and the amino-acid diminution could avoid the possibility of ethyl carbamate formation from the citrulline naturally present in wine.