Antimicrobial Effect of Lactic Acid Bacteria against Common Pathogenic Bacteria

Abstract       Background and Objective: Probiotics are living microorganisms that have beneficial effects on the health of digestive system. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial ability of acidic and neutral supernatants (culture supernatant) of lactic acid bacteria against common bacterial pathogens.        Methods: Four species of lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus plantarum PTCC1745, Lactobacillus PTCC1608, Lactobacillus Saki PTCC1712 and Lactobacillus Lactis PTCC1336) were obtained from the microbial collection of Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology in Lyophilized form. The antimicrobial activity of neutral and acidic supernatants against bacterial pathogens was investigated using the Disk and Well Diffusion Agar methods.       Results: Lactic acid bacteria showed good antimicrobial ability against six pathogenic bacteria with the highest inhibitory effect observed in Lactococcus lactis against E. coli PTCC1399 through well method with an average diameter of 14 mm inhibition zone. In this study, the well diffusion method was far more sensitive compared to the disk method and acidic supernatants showed higher antimicrobial efficiency compared to neutral types.       Conclusion:  the Metabolites produced by lactic acid bacteria are able to inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria that can be an important and practical solution for the prevention and treatment of infections and ultimately improve human health.