Abstract

Objective. - The aim of this study was to assess the potential of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. rhamnosus, L. casei, L. paracasei and Bifidobacterium bifidum to inhibit the outgrowth of some common food-spoiling fungi including Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, A. parasiticus and Penicillium chrysogenum. Methods. - Bacterial isolates were cultured on Mann Rogosa Sharpe (MRS) broth and liquid cultures and supernatants were prepared. The antifungal activity was tested using the agar well diffusion method. Results. - Both liquid culture and supernatant of L. casei isolate exhibited high antifungal activity, followed by L. acidophilus and L. paracasei isolates. The least activity was recorded for the isolates B. bifidum, while the isolate L. rhamnosus was moderately active against tested fungi. The antifungal activity of the supernatants obtained from all probiotic isolates against fungi was significantly less than that of liquid cultures (P < 0.05). Antifungal activity evaluation showed that A. flavus was the most inhibited fungus by probiotic bacteria, followed by P. chrysogenum, A. niger and A. parasiticus. Conclusion. - These results suggest that probiotic bacteria strains have the ability to prevent the growth of pathogenic and mycotoxigenic fungi as antifungal agents for various biomedical applications. (C) 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.