Production and antifungal effect of 3-phenyllactic acid (PLA) by lactic acid bacteria

Abstract

Phenyllactic acid (PLA), which is a known antimicrobial compound, can be synthesized through the reduction of phenylpyruvic acid (PPA) by lactate dehydrogenase of lactic acid bacteria (LAB). PLA-producing LAB was isolated from coffee beans, and the isolated LAB was identified as Lactobacillus zeae Y44 by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Cell-free supernatant (CFS) from L. zeae Y44 was assessed for both its capability to produce the antimicrobial compound PLA and its antifungal activity against three fungal pathogens (Rhizoctonia solani, Botrytis cinerea, and Colletotrichum aculatum). PLA concentration was found to be 4.21 mM in CFS when L. zeae Y44 was grown in MRS broth containing 5 mM PPA for 12 h. PLA production could be promoted by the supplementation with PPA and phenylalanine (Phe) in the MRS broth, but not affected by 4-hydroxy-phenylpyruvic acid, and inhibited by tyrosine as precursors. Antifungal activity assessment demonstrated that all fungal pathogens were sensitive to 5 % CFS (v/v) of L. zeae Y44 with average growth inhibitions ranging from 27.8 to 50.0 % (p <0.005), in which R. solani was the most sensitive with an inhibition of 50.0 %, followed by B. cinerea and C. aculatum. However, pH modification of CFS to pH 6.5 caused an extreme reduction in their antifungal activity. These results may indicate that the antifungal activity of CFS was caused by acidic compounds like PLA or organic acids rather than proteins or peptides molecules.