Screening of lactic acid bacteria for their potential use as aromatic starters in fermented vegetables

Lactic acid fermentation is a traditional process to preserve foods and to modify their organoleptic properties. This process is generally conducted in a spontaneous way, allowing indigenous lactic acid bacteria (LAB) of the matrix and of the environment to compete and grow. The aim of this study was to better characterise LAB strains ability to modify aroma profiles in fruit and vegetable matrices, by focusing on two key enzymatic activities: β-glucosidase and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). Firstly, 200 LAB isolated from Cambodian and Vietnamese fermented foods were screened for their β-glucosidase activity and duplicate isolates identified through RAPD-PCR analysis were discarded. Thereby, 40 strains were found positive for β-glucosidase using p-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucopyranoside as substrate. Among them, 14 displayed an activity greater than 10 nmol/min/mg dry cell. Thirteen were identified as Lactiplantibacillus (L.) plantarum and one as L. pentosus. Secondly, four strains of different phenotypes for β-glucosidase activity were tested for ADH activity. The highest reduction ability for hexanal and (E)-2-hexenal was obtained for Limosilactobacillus (L.) fermentum V013-1A for which no β-glucosidase activity was detectable. The three other strains (L. plantarum C022-2B, C022-3B, and V0023-4B2) exhibited a lower reduction ability and only for hexanal. Thirdly, mashed tomatoes were fermented with these four strains individually to evaluate their ability to release volatile compounds from the tomato precursors. Fifty-eight volatile compounds were identified and quantified by HS-SPME/GC–MS. Untreated tomatoes were rich in aldehydes. The tomatoes fermented with L. plantarum strains were rich in ketones whereas those with L. fermentum were rich in alcohols. However, for the generation of terpenoids that provide flower and fruit flavours, our screening of β-glucosidase activity was not able to explain the differences among the strains. For ADH activity, L. fermentum exhibited a high activity in fermentation as most of the target aldehydes and ketones disappeared and were replaced by their corresponding alcohols. The L. plantarum strains exhibited a lower activity but with an important substrate-selectivity diversity. A better knowledge of the functionality of each LAB strain in the food matrix will permit to predict and shape the aroma profiles of fermented food.