Study of the conjugated linoleic acid synthesis by Lactobacillus strains and by different co-cultures designed for this ability

Abstract Consumer concern about the relationship between food and health has generated a growing interest in functional foods. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has been associated with several beneficial health properties. Therefore, this study reports the design of co-cultures containing CLA-producing strains and their performance in MRS and in skim milk. The four designed co-cultures were tested under different conditions. In MRS, co-culture 2 (containing autochthonous Lactococcus lactis strains and Lactobacillus plantarum TAUL 1588) was the highest CLA-producer (98.01 µg/mL) after 48 h incubation. In milk, the highest total CLA production (56.51 µg/mL) was reached with co-culture 4 (containing autochthonous Lactococcus lactis , Lactobacillus plantarum TAUL 1588 and Lactobacillus casei SS 1644) after 72 h. These results open the way for the use of co-cultures containing CLA-producing strains to manufacture cheese and obtain functional dairy products rich in bioactive fatty acids.