Identification of lactic acid bacterial strains with high conjugated linoleic acid-producing ability from natural sauerkraut fermentations.

Natural sauerkraut fermentations contain a great number of lactic acid bacteria. The aim of this study was to identify lactic acid bacterial strains with high conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)-producing ability from natural sauerkraut fermentations. Fifteen CLA-producing lactic acid bacterial strains were isolated in the study. One of these strains, designated as NCUL005, showed the highest CLA-producing ability (0.623 mg/mL). The transformation efficiency of converting linoleic acid into CLA by NCUL005 was 26.67%. The CLA produced by NCUL005 comprised a mixture of 32.2% cis9, trans11-C18:2 isomer and 67.8% trans10, cis12-C18:2 isomer. NCUL005 was identified as Lactobacillus plantarum, based on its cell morphology, characteristics of lactic acid production, and analysis result from Biolog Microbial Identification System (BMIS).