LI Wen , CHEN Yinyuan, CHEN Liming, GUO Xiang, YUAN Zhenhu, WANG Tao
Two Weissella strains were studied regarding their acid, bile salt and simulated intestinal fluid tolerance, as well as their antibacterial activity, cholesterol and triglyceride degradation activity and cell-surface property. The results showed that the acid resistance of Weissella viridescens ZY-6 was better than that of Weissella Hellenica WS-419. The survival rates of the two strains at pH 2 were 45.18% and 24.65%, respectively, and greater than 100% at pH 3 and pH 4. With 3 g/L bile salt, the survival rates of W. viridescens ZY-6 and W. Hellenica WS-419 were 75.89% and 72.05%, respectively. Moreover, they both had strong simulated intestinal fluid tolerance, as their survival rates were about 80% after 3 h treatment. In addition, ZY-6 also had better performance than WS-419 in antimicrobial activity, as its inhibition zone diameters for Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella were 22.61 mm, 27.02 mm and 30.53 mm, respectively. They also showed similar cholesterol degradation activity, which were 32.79% and 32.13%, respectively, while WS-419 showed better triglyceride degradation activity (42.80%) than that of ZY-6 (26.70%). Besides, the cell surface hydrophobicity and auto-aggregation of them were both more than 60%. In conclusion, both W. viridescens ZY-6 and W. Hellenica WS-419 have good probiotic characteristics, therefore, they can be served as candidate strains for developing functional foods.