CHARACTERIZATION OF INTERACTIONS BETWEEN LACTOBACILLUS-HILGARDII AND SACCHAROMYCES-FLORENTINUS ISOLATED FROM SUGARY KEFIR GRAINS

Stimulation of the growth of Lactobacillus hilgardii and production of lactic acid in the presence of Saccharomyces florentinus have already been observed in a poor glucose medium. In this study we showed that CO2, pyruvate, propionate, acetate and succinate excreted by the yeast were responsible for this phenomenon, whereas ethanol, fumarate and a cocktail of vitamins had no effect. Fermentation by the yeast did not enrich the total nitrogen or free amino acid content of the medium. The use of proteases confirmed that it was improbable that any nitrogenous compound could be responsible for the bacterial activation. Between values of 0.1 and 5 %, the initial yeast : bacteria ratio had no effect on the stimulation of Lact. hilgardii, even though yeast fermentation was drastically affected by a low initial value. The interactions differed greatly according to the sugar source. With monosaccharides, stimulation began after 48 h of culture, and was higher on glucose than on fructose. With sucrose, stimulation appeared at the beginning of fermentation. Different mechanisms seemed to be involved.