Influence of sunflower oil on conjugated linoleic acid production byLactobacillus acidophilus andLactobacillus casei

Abstract

This study was conducted to test the conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) producing potential ofLactobacillus acidophilus NCDC-14 andLactobacillus casei NCDC-19, where sunflower oil (a rich source of linoleic acid) was used as a substrate for CLA production in skim milk at varying concentrations ranging from 0.25–1.0%.Lactobacillus casei produced higher amount of CLA i.e. 11.0 mg/g of fat at a concentration of 1.0% sunflower oil, whereasL. acidophilus produced only 2.73 mg/g of fat. However, at the lower concentration of sunflower oil (0.25%), there was no considerable difference (i.e. 6.92 and 6.73 mg/g of fat forL. casei andL. acidophilus, respectively) in the CLA producing ability of both the cultures, indicating that the increased amount of oil in the medium led to the inhibition of either the growth ofL. acidophilus or the CLA conversion. Hence,L. casei may extend a possibility to be used in the preparation of different fermented milk products for enhanced CLA content.