Use of starter culture of Lactobacillus plantarum BP04 in the preservation of dining-hall food waste

In this work, Lactobacillus plantarum BP04 was employed as starter culture in dining-hall food waste storage with different inoculant levels at 0, 2 and 10% (v/w) to suppress the outgrowth of pathogenic and spoilage bacteria. Inoculation by Lactobacillus plantarum BP04 was effective in accelerating pH drop and reducing the growth period of enterobacteria to 9, 7 and 2 days, corresponding to inoculant levels at 0, 2 and 10% (v/w). Increasing inoculum levels were found to inhibit the growth of Lactobacillus brevis and Leuconostoc lactis. HPLC analysis revealed that lactic acid was the predominant organic acid during the treatment of dining-hall food waste. Its concentration varied among the fermented processes reflecting variations of microbial activity in the fermented media.