The Impacts of Acidophilic Lactic Acid Bacteria on Food and Human Health: A Review of the Current Knowledge

Abstract

The need to improve the safety/quality of food and the health of the hosts has resulted in increasing worldwide interest in acidophilic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) for the food, livestock as well as health industries. In addition to the use of acidophilic LAB with probiotic potential for food fermentation and preservation, their application in the natural disposal of acidic wastes polluting the environment is also being investigated. Considering this new benefit that has been assigned to probiotic microorganisms in recent years, the acceleration in efforts to identify new, efficient, promising probiotic acidophilic LAB is not surprising. One of these effots is to determine both the beneficial and harmful compounds synthesized by acidophilic LAB. Moreover, microorganisms are of concern due to their possible hemolytic, DNase, gelatinase and mucinolytic activities, and the presence of virulence/antibiotic genes. Hence, it is argued that acidophilic LAB should be evaluated for these parameters before their use in the health/food/livestock industry. However, this issue has not yet been fully discussed in the literature. Thus, this review pays attention to the less-known aspects of acidophilic LAB and the compounds they release, clarifying critical unanswered questions, and discussing their health benefits and safety.

Nutritional and Molecular Studies of Alkaliphilic Tolerant Potential Amylase Producing Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Indigenous Foods and Dumpsites

“…The best growth pHs for all the isolates fell between 5.0 and 6.0. Mehmet et al (2023) stated that while most LAB grow best at pH levels close to neutral, some bacterial species, including Lactobacillus, which is one of the isolates used in this study, are different and grow well at pH 3 and this is reflective of our results in this study. Song et al (2021), also reported the tolerance of Pediococcus pentasaceus and Pediococcus acidilactic at pH values from 2.5 to 4.…”

Enhancing Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities in Bee-Collected Pollen through Solid-State Fermentation: A Comparative Analysis of Bioactive Compounds

“…L. acidophilus is a well-known probiotic that is beneficial for gut health [ 59 ]; incorporating it into fermented BP can add probiotic properties to the final product, making it more beneficial for consumption. It is effective in producing lactic acid, which can help in preserving the BP and maintaining a stable pH during fermentation [ 25 ]. A. kunkeei is commonly found in bee products and is well adapted to the bee environment [ 60 ].…”

“…Lactobacillus plantarum , with its robust fermentative ability and adaptability to different substrates, has been documented to improve the digestibility and nutritional profile of various foods. The fermentation process with L. plantarum and L. acidophilus not only breaks down complex food matrices but also potentially increases the levels of essential amino acids, vitamins, and bioactive peptides, adding to the functional value of BP [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. One of the notable benefits of L. plantarum in fermentation is its capacity to improve the bioavailability of nutrients.…”

Impact of Lactic Acid Bacteria Fermentation on (Poly)Phenolic Profile and In Vitro Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Herbal Infusions

“…[2][3][4][5]. Most of the functional foodstuffs are produced by species and (or) strains belonging to lactic acid bacteria (LAB), which are generally recognized as safe (GRAS) and confer a multitude of functional and sensory properties [6,7]. In this regard, for outside plant-based fermented foods or drinks which are currently widely studied, the LAB starter cultures are directed towards the fermentation of novel substrates from plant foods, herbs, or spices in order to improve their health-promoting effects by stimulating the release or production of bioactive metabolites [8][9][10].…”