Abstract
BACKGROUND: The newly created associations of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from Armenian dairy products (yoghurt, sour cream and different varieties of cheese), as well as from the gastrointestinal tract of honeybees were screened according to their antifungal and antibacterial activity. RESULTS: LAB strains were mixed at equal proportions (1:1) according to mathematical planning of experiments. Antifungal and antibacterial effects of different combinations (associations) were determined in different media, employing well-diffusion and total diffusion into agar methods. A number of fungal and bacterial test-organisms, including pathogenic ones, were used. Pure LAB strain cultures were used as a control. The antifungal effect of the most active strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus MDC 9661 in the associations with other LAB strains was partly decreased. At the same time, some mixed LAB cultures in DeMan, Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) medium demonstrated significant antibacterial activity against wide spectra of test-organisms only in the case of simultaneous cultivation of LAB strains. On the other hand, in the case of different LAB strains cultivated in MRS with 24-h time break between mix formations by different strains, no inhibitory activity was revealed. But the inhibitory effect of many LAB associations against test-organisms was significantly increased in the case of separated cultivation in milk. CONCLUSION: The inhibitory effect of mixed LAB associations showed stronger dependence on the cultivation media and on the duration of cultivation with respect to each other. The co-cultivation of some strains, like L. rhamnosus MDC 9661, could lead to changed antagonistic activity. Consequently, the results are significant for creation and further investigation of LAB associations, as effective probiotics, and for their probable application in the production of antimicrobial preparations.