title: Influence of carbohydrates on the isolation of lactic acid bacteria.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the influence of carbohydrates on enrichment isolation of lactic acid bacteria from different niches.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Lactic acid bacteria in three traditional fermented products in southern Africa (amasi, mahewu and tshwala) and in three fresh samples (two flowers and a fruit) were enrichment cultured in media supplemented with 13 different carbohydrates. Diversity of lactic acid bacteria was determined by PCR-denaturing-gradient gel electrophoresis. Carbohydrates used in enrichment media had a big impact on the isolation of lactic acid bacteria from fermented products. Depending on the carbohydrates tested, the number of species detected ranged from one to four in amasi, one to five in mahewu and one to three in tshwala. Fructose and mannitol selected for relatively higher numbers of lactic acid bacteria in fermented products. Specific relationships between substrates and lactic acid bacteria have been noted. On the other hand, small influences were found among carbohydrates tested in flowers and fruit.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Carbohydrates have a big impact on the isolation of a variety of lactic acid bacteria in fermented food.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study that reports the influence of carbohydrates on the enrichment of lactic acid bacteria.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa Functional Foods Forum, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Futagawa-Endo
authors.forename: L M T
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Dicks
mesh_terms: D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D058645:Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis; D005285:Fermentation; D035264:Flowers / Q000382:microbiology; D005516:Food Microbiology; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction