Influence of Growth Medium on Hydrogen Peroxide and Bacteriocin Production of Lactobacillus Strains**

This study was conducted to investigate the inhibitory effect of bacteriocin and the production of hydrogen peroxide by four non-starter lactic acid bacteria, Lactobacillus plantarum 2142, Lactobacillus curvatus 2770, Lactobacillus curvatus 2775, Lactobacillus casei subsp. pseudoplantarum 2750 and the probiotic strain Lactobacillus casei Shirota, propagated in de Man Rogosa Sharpe (MRS) and tomato juice (TJ) broth. The methods were a commonly used agar diffusion technique and a microtiter assay method. The best peroxide-producing Lactobacillus strain was selected for screening the inhibitory activity against Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli and the activity of bacteriocins against Lactobacillus sakei and Candida glabrata. All of the investigated lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains grown in MRS broth produced the highest concentration of hydrogen peroxide ranging from 2–6 g/mL after 72 h of storage. L. plantarum 2142 produced enough hydrogen peroxide already after 24 h at 5 °C in phosphate buffer to inhibit the growth of L. monocytogenes and B. cereus. Crude bacteriocin suspension from the investigated LAB inhibited only slightly the growth of L. sakei, however, the same suspension from MRS completely inhibited the 6-fold diluted yeast suspension. The concentrated bacteriocin suspensions from the both broths inhibited the growth of L. sakei completely. Among the strains, L. plantarum 2142 seemed to be the best peroxide and bacteriocin producer, and the antimicrobial metabolite production was better in MRS than in TJ broth.