Improvement of the Fermentative Activity of Lactic Acid Bacteria Starter Culture by the Addition of Mn2+

Production of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) starter with raw material has received much scientific investigation, but little information is available on the influences of some trace elements on the growth and fermentative activity of LAB. Based on this fact, this paper aimed to investigate the effects of Mn²⁺ on the performance of Lactobacillus plantarum CX-15 starter with Jerusalem artichoke (JA) as the main medium substrate. The results showed that Mn²⁺ addition had a significant beneficial affect on the fermentative activity of L. plantarum CX-15 starter. In contrast, the lack of Mn²⁺ would cause the subsequent fermentation significantly slower, whether the cell density in starter culture was higher or lower. The possible mechanism of these phenomenons was further elucidated by the time course analysis of the specific activities of metabolism key enzymes during the culture processes of L. plantarum CX-15 starter. Compared to the fermentation processes without Mn²⁺ addition, it was found that Mn²⁺ addition would enhance the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity but reduce the activities of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) and ATPase activity. Therefore, it could be concluded that the improvement of L. plantarum starter fermentative activity was probably a consequence of Mn²⁺ acting as “metabolic switch,” which regulated the metabolic flux from pyruvic acid to lactic acid and other metabolism pathway.