title: Lactic acid bacteria as functional probiotic isolates for inhibiting the growth of Aspergillus flavus, A. parasiticus, A. niger and Penicillium chrysogenum.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess the potential of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. rhamnosus, L. casei, L. paracasei and Bifidobacterium bifidum to inhibit the outgrowth of some common food-spoiling fungi including Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, A. parasiticus and Penicillium chrysogenum.
  
  
  METHODS
  Bacterial isolates were cultured on Mann Rogosa Sharpe (MRS) broth and liquid cultures and supernatants were prepared. The antifungal activity was tested using the agar well diffusion method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both liquid culture and supernatant of L. casei isolate exhibited high antifungal activity, followed by L. acidophilus and L. paracasei isolates. The least activity was recorded for the isolates B. bifidum, while the isolate L. rhamnosus was moderately active against tested fungi. The antifungal activity of the supernatants obtained from all probiotic isolates against fungi was significantly less than that of liquid cultures (P<0.05). Antifungal activity evaluation showed that A. flavus was the most inhibited fungus by probiotic bacteria, followed by P. chrysogenum, A. niger and A. parasiticus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that probiotic bacteria strains have the ability to prevent the growth of pathogenic and mycotoxigenic fungi as antifungal agents for various biomedical applications.
authors.affiliation: Health Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abbaszadeh
authors.affiliation: Health School, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tavakoli
authors.affiliation: Mycology Research Center, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sharifzadeh
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Amol University of Special Modern Technologies, 24th aftab, Imam Khomeini Street, P.O. box 46168-49767, Amol, Iran. Electronic address: hshokri@ausmt.ac.ir.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shokri
mesh_terms: D000898:Antibiosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D001231:Aspergillus flavus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D001234:Aspergillus niger / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D006801:Humans; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D007779:Lactobacillus acidophilus / Q000502:physiology; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010408:Penicillium chrysogenum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D019936:Probiotics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D019344:Lactic Acid
keywords: Activité antifongique; Antifungal activity; Aspergillus; Bifidobacterium; Lactobacillus; Penicillium; Probiotic