Bioprospecting of Cheese Whey: Isolation, Safety and Cytoprotective Effects of Limosilactobacillus fermentum Strains on Intestinal Cells
- 1Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigación y Transferencia Agroalimentaria y Biotecnológica (IMITAB), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Instituto Académico Pedagógico de Ciencias Básicas y Aplicadas, Universidad Nacional de Villa María (UNVM), Villa María 5900, Argentina
- 2Department of Microbiology and Immunology, National University of Río Cuarto, Córdoba 5800, Argentina
Abstract
Bioprospecting is the identification and exploitation of natural resources for commercial purposes. Cheese whey is a major dairy by-product rich in nutrients and a possible source of bioactive compounds. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify lactic acid bacteria from cheese whey and characterize them based on their probiotic and technological properties, together with their cytotoxicity and cytoprotective effect on intestinal epithelial cells. From 142 isolates, three were selected as potential probiotic strains; all three were identified as Limosilactobacillus fermentum by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The strains co-aggregated with pathogenic bacteria (up to 52.7%), scavenged the ABTS●+ radical cation (10–70%), produced 374–459 mg/L of exopolysaccharides and tolerated sucrose, NaCl and CaCl2 at the concentrations tested. L. fermentum VM016, VM023 and VM030 showed no cytotoxicity at 107 CFU/mL and showed a cytoprotective effect against the oxidative stress of menadione at concentrations as low as 104 CFU/mL in IEC-18 cells, and 105 CFU/mL in Caco-2 cells. These results show that cheese whey retains a cultivable lactic acid bacteria fraction already adapted to the physicochemical conditions of the dairy matrix, from which autochthonous cultures can be recovered exhibiting probiotic potential, technological suitability, and favorable preliminary safety indicators for human consumption.
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BibTeX
@article{vergara2026bioprospecting,
title = {{Bioprospecting of Cheese Whey: Isolation, Safety and Cytoprotective Effects of Limosilactobacillus fermentum Strains on Intestinal Cells}},
author = {Ladislao Iván Díaz Vergara and Marina del Rosario Bettiol and Antonella María Centomo and Lilia René Cavaglieri and Mariana Angélica Montenegro and Yanina Estefanía Rossi},
journal = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/ijms27198860},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/19/8860},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Bioprospecting of Cheese Whey: Isolation, Safety and Cytoprotective Effects of Limosilactobacillus fermentum Strains on Intestinal Cells
AU - Ladislao Iván Díaz Vergara
AU - Marina del Rosario Bettiol
AU - Antonella María Centomo
AU - Lilia René Cavaglieri
AU - Mariana Angélica Montenegro
AU - Yanina Estefanía Rossi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/04
JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
DO - 10.3390/ijms27198860
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/19/8860
AB - Bioprospecting is the identification and exploitation of natural resources for commercial purposes. Cheese whey is a major dairy by-product rich in nutrients and a possible source of bioactive compounds. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify lactic acid bacteria from cheese whey and characterize them based on their probiotic and technological properties, together with their cytotoxicity and cytoprotective effect on intestinal epithelial cells. From 142 isolates, three were selected as potential probiotic strains; all three were identified as Limosilactobacillus fermentum by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The strains co-aggregated with pathogenic bacteria (up to 52.7%), scavenged the ABTS●+ radical cation (10–70%), produced 374–459 mg/L of exopolysaccharides and tolerated sucrose, NaCl and CaCl2 at the concentrations tested. L. fermentum VM016, VM023 and VM030 showed no cytotoxicity at 107 CFU/mL and showed a cytoprotective effect against the oxidative stress of menadione at concentrations as low as 104 CFU/mL in IEC-18 cells, and 105 CFU/mL in Caco-2 cells. These results show that cheese whey retains a cultivable lactic acid bacteria fraction already adapted to the physicochemical conditions of the dairy matrix, from which autochthonous cultures can be recovered exhibiting probiotic potential, technological suitability, and favorable preliminary safety indicators for human consumption.
SN - 1422-0067
ER -