Novel consortium of Klebsiella variicola and Lactobacillus species enhances the functional potential of fermented dairy products by increasing the availability of branched-chain amino acids and the amount of distinctive volatiles.

AIMS: Identify novel bacterial taxa that could increase the availability of branched-chain amino acids and the amount of distinctive volatiles during skim milk fermentation.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We recovered 344 bacterial isolates from stool samples of healthy and breastfed infants. Five were selected based on their ability to produce branched-chain amino acids. Three strains were identified as Escherichia coli, one as Klebsiella pneumoniae and other as Klebsiella variicola by molecular and biochemical methods. HPLC and solid-phase microextraction with GC-MS were used for the determination of free amino acids and volatile compounds respectively. The consortium formed by K. variicola and four Lactobacillus species showed the highest production of Leu and Ile in skim milk fermentation. In addition, the production of volatile compounds, such as acetoin, ethanol, 2-nonanone, and acetic, hexanoic and octanoic acids, increased in comparison to commercial yogurt, Emmental and Gouda cheese. Also, distinctive volatiles, such as 2,3-butanediol, 4-methyl-2- hexanone and octanol, were identified.

CONCLUSION: The use of K. variicola in combination with probiotic Lactobacillus species enhances the availability of Leu and Ile and the amount of distinctive volatiles during skim milk fermentation.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The identified consortium increases the functional potential of fermented dairy products.