Abstract

 Lactic acid bacteria are characterized by numerous nutritional requirements. The influence of amino acids on the growth of Oenococcus oeni SD-2a and metabolism of organic acids were determined. The microorganism in basal medium grew to 2.47×10⁸CFU·ml^-1 biomass with maximum growth rate of 0.0072 h^-1. When glutamic acid and cysteine were independently omitted from basal medium, no growth was observed, indicating that these amino acids are essentials for bacterial growth. When L-malate and citric acids were added individually or together to basal media deficient in glutamic acid or cysteine, they played a beneficial role in bacterial growth and L-malic acid utilization; and both acid combined had a stimulatory effect on the rate of growth and L-malic acid utilization. When glutamic acid or cysteine concentration increased in the same media, bacterial maximum growth rate (μmax) and final biomass production increased; the rate of L-malate acid utilization, L-lactic acid production or citric acid consumption also increased.

Key words: Oenococcus oeni, amino acids, organic acids. 

Abbreviation

LAB, Lactic acid bacteria; MLF, malolactic fermentation; CFU, colony-forming units; HPLC, high performance liquid chromatography; BM, basal medium.