Production of Phenyl Lactic Acid (PLA) by Lactic Acid Bacteria and its Antifungal Effect

Abstract

Phenyllactic acid (PLA) which is known as antimicrobial compound can be synthesized through the reduction of phenylpyruvic acid (PPA) by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) of lactic acid bacteria (LAB). LAB producing PLA was isolated from Korea Kimchi and identified to Lactobacillus plantarum SJ21 by 16 rRNA gene sequence analysis. Cell-free supernatant (CFS) from L. plantarum SJ21 was assessed for both the capability to produce the antimicrobial compound PLA and the antifungal activity against four fungal pathogens (Rhizoctonia solani, Aspergillus oryzae, Botrytis cinerea, and Collectotricum aculatum). PLA concentration was investigated to be 3.23mM in CFS when L. plantarum SJ21 was grown in MRS broth containing 5mM PPA for 16 h. PLA production also could be promoted by the supplement of PPA and phenylalanine in MRS broth, but inhibited by the supplement of 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid and tyrosine as precursors. Antifungal activity demonstrated that all fungal pathogens were sensitive to 5% CFS (v/v) of L. plantarum SJ21 with average growth inhibitions ranging from 27.32% to 69.05% (p -1 (2.11 mM) to 0.7 mg mL -1 (4.21 mM) at pH 4.0. The inhibition ability of CFS against the pathogens was not affected by heating or protease treatment. However, pH modification in CFS to 6.5 caused an extreme reduction in their antifungal activity. These results may indicate that antifungal activities in CFS were caused by acidic compounds like PLA or organic acids rather than proteins or peptides molecules.