Bioconversion enhancement of conjugated linoleic acid by Lactobacillus plantarum using the culture media manipulation and numerical optimization.

The ability of different Lactobacillus strains to produce conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) from linoleic acid was evaluated. Preliminary experiments revealed that L. plantarum among the screened strains had the highest CLA-producing potential (95.25 μg/mL). The cell growth of this bacterium was studied in three media of MRS broth, skim milk and skim milk supplemented with yeast extract and glucose. Results showed that the use of yeast extract and glucose could significantly increase the cell growth and CLA production. Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to investigate the effects of three independent variables; linoleic acid (LA), yeast extract concentrations and inoculum size on the CLA formation. A second-order polynomial model with high R (2) value (0.981) was developed using multiple linear regression analysis. The optimum conditions to achieve the highest CLA production (240.69 μg/mL) was obtained using 3 mg/mL LA, 4 g/L yeast extract and inoculum size of 4 % v/v. CLA concentration of the optimal sample was analyzed by Gas Chromatography (GC). The cis-9, trans-11 CLA was the major CLA isomer of total CLA detected.