Optimization of Growth of Lactobacillus acidophilus FTCC 0291 and Evaluation of Growth Characteristics in Soy Whey Medium: A Response Surface Methodology Approach

Four strains of probiotics were evaluated for their α-galactosidase activity. Lactobacillus acidophilus FTCC 0291 displayed the highest specific α-galactosidase activity and was thus selected to be optimized in soy whey medium supplemented with seven nitrogen sources. The first-order model showed that meat extract, vegetable extract, and peptone significantly (P < 0.05) influenced the growth of L. acidophilus. The second-order polynomial regression estimated that maximum growth was obtained from the combination of 7.25% (w/v) meat extract, 4.7% (w/v) vegetable extract, and 6.85% (w/v) peptone. The validation experiment showed that response surface methodology was reliable with a variation of only 1.14% from the actual experimental data. Increased utilization of oligosaccharides and reducing sugars contributed to increased growth of L. acidophilus in the soy whey medium. This was accompanied by increased production of short-chain fatty acids and a decrease in pH.