Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) Produced by Levilactobacillus brevis WLP672 Fermentation in Defined Media Supplemented with Different Amino Acids

Abstract

Fermentation by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) is a promising approach to meet the increasing demand for meat or dairy plant-based analogues with realistic flavours. However, a detailed understanding of the impact of the substrate, fermentation conditions, and bacterial strains on the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced during fermentation is lacking. As a first step, the current study used a defined medium (DM) supplemented with the amino acids L-leucine (Leu), L-isoleucine (Ile), L-phenylalanine (Phe), L-threonine (Thr), L-methionine (Met), or L-glutamic acid (Glu) separately or combined to determine their impact on the VOCs produced by Levilactobacillus brevis WLP672 (LB672). VOCs were measured using headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). VOCs associated with the specific amino acids added included: benzaldehyde, phenylethyl alcohol, and benzyl alcohol with added Phe; methanethiol, methional, and dimethyl disulphide with added Met; 3-methyl butanol with added Leu; and 2-methyl butanol with added Ile. This research demonstrated that fermentation by LB672 of a DM supplemented with different amino acids separately or combined resulted in the formation of a range of dairy- and meat-related VOCs and provides information on how plant-based fermentations could be manipulated to generate desirable flavours.

The Effect of Different Medium Compositions and LAB Strains on Fermentation Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) Analysed by Proton Transfer Reaction-Time of Flight-Mass Spectrometry (PTR-ToF-MS)

“…The growth of LAB in DM has been thoroughly investigated over many years [20][21][22][23][24]. However, only a few studies have examined the impact of LAB on the VOCs produced during growth in DM [25][26][27], and no studies have reported on the VOC production by different LAB strains in response to changes in DM composition.…”