<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><!DOCTYPE article  PUBLIC "-//NLM//DTD Journal Publishing DTD v3.0 20080202//EN" "http://dtd.nlm.nih.gov/publishing/3.0/journalpublishing3.dtd"><article xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" dtd-version="3.0" xml:lang="en" article-type="research article"><front><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">AiM</journal-id><journal-title-group><journal-title>Advances in Microbiology</journal-title></journal-title-group><issn pub-type="epub">2165-3402</issn><publisher><publisher-name>Scientific Research Publishing</publisher-name></publisher></journal-meta><article-meta><article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.4236/aim.2017.78046</article-id><article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">AiM-78190</article-id><article-categories><subj-group subj-group-type="heading"><subject>Articles</subject></subj-group><subj-group subj-group-type="Discipline-v2"><subject>Biomedical&amp;Life Sciences</subject></subj-group></article-categories><title-group><article-title>
 
 
  Effect of Inorganic Salts on the Thermotolerance and Probiotic Properties of Lactobacilli Isolated from Curdled Milk Traditionally Produced in Mezam Division, Cameroon
 
</article-title></title-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Bertrand</surname><given-names>Tatsinkou Fossi</given-names></name><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"><sup>1</sup></xref><xref ref-type="corresp" rid="cor1"><sup>*</sup></xref></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Gordon</surname><given-names>Nchanji Takop</given-names></name><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"><sup>1</sup></xref></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Robert</surname><given-names>Ndjouenkeu</given-names></name><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2"><sup>2</sup></xref></contrib></contrib-group><aff id="aff2"><addr-line>Department of Food Science and Nutrition, ENSAI, Ngaoundere, Cameroon</addr-line></aff><aff id="aff1"><addr-line>Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Science, University of Buea, Cameroon</addr-line></aff><author-notes><corresp id="cor1">* E-mail:<email>tatsinkou.fossi@ubuea.cm(BTF)</email>;</corresp></author-notes><pub-date pub-type="epub"><day>07</day><month>08</month><year>2017</year></pub-date><volume>07</volume><issue>08</issue><fpage>589</fpage><lpage>601</lpage><history><date date-type="received"><day>June</day>	<month>20,</month>	<year>2017</year></date><date date-type="rev-recd"><day>Accepted:</day>	<month>August</month>	<year>4,</year>	</date><date date-type="accepted"><day>August</day>	<month>7,</month>	<year>2017</year></date></history><permissions><copyright-statement>&#169; Copyright  2014 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. </copyright-statement><copyright-year>2014</copyright-year><license><license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</license-p></license></permissions><abstract><p>
 
 
  The industrial production of most food and probiotic products often requires processing involving high temperatures and physiological stress causing loss of viability of probiotic microbial strains. The viability and stability of probiotic strains is a key determinant of their efficacy during administration in human and animal. Thermotolerance is actually a very important feature for probiotic undergoing industrial processing. This paper aimed at assessing the effect of some mineral salts on the thermotolerance and the probiotic properties of lactobacilli isolated from curded milk produced in Mezam Division, Cameroon. Lactobacilli were isolated by pour plate method on de Man Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) agar. Lactobacilli were selected based on their ability to suppress 
  in-vitro and 
  in-vivo food borne pathogenic bacteria; 
  Salmonella enterica serovar Enteridis and 
  Esherichia coli. Inhibitory activities against these food borne pathogens were performed by disc diffusion method on Mueller Hinton agar. 
  In-vivo inhibition of Salmonella was achieved using oral administration by gavage of (1.0 &#215; 10
  <sup>9</sup> CFU/ml) of selected probiotic strain suspended in sterile water. Thermotolerance was assessed by measuring the survival rate of the strain after heating at various temperatures in the presence and absence of mineral salts. Resistance to bile was determined by measuring the survival rate of probiotics after incubation in the presence of oxgallbille and mineral salts. Two catalase negatives isolates were selected based on their capacity to exhibit inhibitory activities 
  in-vitro and 
  in-vivo against food borne pathogens. They were identified as strain of 
  Lactobacillus casei (LS3) and 
  Lactobacillus plantarum (LM4). These strains exhibited significant reduction (P &lt; 0.05) in 
  Salmonella count in caeca swabs of infected chick model. The calcium and magnesium salts increased significantly (P &lt; 0.05) the thermo-tolerance and resistance to bile of probiotic strains studied. These results suggested that calcium and magnesium could be used to monitor the viability of probiotic strains in probiotic products.
 
</p></abstract><kwd-group><kwd>Probiotics Products</kwd><kwd> Thermotolerance</kwd><kwd> Bile Tolerance</kwd><kwd> Calcium</kwd><kwd> Food Processing</kwd></kwd-group></article-meta></front><body><sec id="s1"><title>1. Introduction</title><p>Probiotics are living microorganisms that play a beneficial role in human and animal health [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref1">1</xref>] . Regular intake or frequent inclusion of probiotic foods in the daily diet is increasingly encouraged in recent years [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref2">2</xref>] . Numerous research studies have demonstrated the beneficial effect of probiotics on the recovery of intestinal health, including the suppression of pathogens such as Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimuriun [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref3">3</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref4">4</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref5">5</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref6">6</xref>] , Salmonella enteric serovar Enteridis, Campylobacter [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref7">7</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref8">8</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref9">9</xref>] Staphylococcus aureus [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref10">10</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref11">11</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref12">12</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref13">13</xref>] and even Helicobacter pylori [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref14">14</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref15">15</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref16">16</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref17">17</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref18">18</xref>] . The administration of probiotics through food is one of the easy methods for taking probiotics for therapeutic purposes, the consumption of probiotic foods is recommended.</p><p>Most probiotic foods are dairy products such as yogurts, fermented milks in multiple forms, cheeses, but also fermented beverages and more rarely meat products [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref1">1</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref19">19</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref20">20</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref21">21</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref22">22</xref>] .</p><p>Artisanal and especially industrial production of probiotic foods generally involve processes taking place at high temperatures, reducing the survival and viability of the microbial strains involved and thus rendering the probiotic food ineffective when consumed as curative or preventive [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref23">23</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref24">24</xref>] . The viability of the probiotic strains contained in these foods is an essential criterion for the effectiveness of these functional foods. Probiotic products should contain a fairly large number of viable cells in order to be effective after consumption [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref25">25</xref>] - [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref30">30</xref>] .</p><p>Very few studies have been conducted on the thermotolerance of probiotic strains. Some research carried out by Yang, Huang [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref31">31</xref>] have shown that Magnesium can improve the thermal tolerance of probiotic strains used in the food industry. Since these mineral elements are components of certain foods and play a very important role in the proper functioning of cells and in particular of probiotic microbes, it is necessary to test the effect of mineral elements such as Iron, Magnesium, Calcium, Manganese, Sodium, on the survival and viability of probiotic strains exposed to heat treatments in industrial processes for the production of probiotic foods and products.</p><p>The purpose of this research was to evaluate the protective effect of metal salts on the viability of probiotic strains exposed to processes involving high tempe- ratures.</p></sec><sec id="s2"><title>2. Materials and Methods</title><sec id="s2_1"><title>2.1. Samples of Curded Milk Collection</title><p>Samples of the curds were purchased from M’Bororo peasants in Santa, Mezam Division of Cameroon. Curd is traditionally obtained after heating and natural fermentation of raw cow’s milk. A total of 20 samples of curdled milk were collected at a rate of 10 ml per sample and introduced into sterile bottles. The samples were then placed in a container containing pieces of ice to make the temperature low enough during transport. The samples thus obtained were transported to the Laboratory for the isolation of lactic acid bacteria with probiotic properties.</p></sec><sec id="s2_2"><title>2.2. Isolation and Phenotypic Characterization of Potential Probiotic Bacteria from Traditionally Fermented Milk</title><p>Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from curded milk by pour plate method on de Man Rogosa and Shape (MRS) agar (Oxoid, UK). For this purpose, ten- fold serial dilution of the milk samples was performed. The catalase negative colonies were selected and further characterized by Gram test and the determination of their carbohydrate fermentation profile using API 50 CHL Kit (BioMerieux, France). The Software APILAB plus version 5.0 was used for the identification of the catalase negative colonies.</p></sec><sec id="s2_3"><title>2.3. In-vitro and In-vivo Study of Probiotic Properties</title><p>The ability to suppress the growth of pathogenic microorganisms and to resist acid and bile salts were the probiotic properties studied. The in-vitro ability to inhibit pathogenic bacteria was carried out by well diffusion method on Mueller Hinton agar. Salmonella enterica serotype Enteridis and Esherichia coli were used as indicator microorganisms. Selected lactic acid bacteria were cultured at 37˚C for 24 h in MRS broth (Oxoid, UK) supplemented with various concentration of mineral salts (0, 50, 100 mmol/L). The mineral salt used were: MgSO<sub>4</sub>・7H<sub>2</sub>O, NaCl, ZnCl<sub>2</sub>, CaCl<sub>2</sub>・2H<sub>2</sub>O (Sigma, UK). Fermented broth obtained were then centrifuged at 8000 g and kept at 4˚C. For the antimicrobial activity testing, Muller Hinton agar (Oxoid, UK) was poured in petri dishes, after solidification, 0.5 ml of the indicator microorganism was spread on the surface of each agar plate. After 15 min, wells of 5 mm diameter were aseptically made on the surface of Muller Hinton agar and 50 &#181;l of the cell free supernatant (CFS) were inoculated into the wells.</p><p>Acid and bile-resistance were performed as we previously described [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref32">32</xref>] . Various concentrations of organic salts were added to assess their effect on resistance to acid and to oxgall-bile.</p><p>To test the probiotic properties of the selected lactic acid bacteria in-vivo, one day-old uninfected chicks were used, 10 of these chicks were infected with Salmonella enterica sp. This infection was carried out by oral gavage with 1.0 &#215; 10<sup>5</sup> CFU/mL of Salmonella sp suspended in sterile water. Following this infection, the selected probiotic strains were administered by gavage with 1.0 &#215; 10<sup>9</sup> CFU/ ml of each probiotic suspended in PBS buffer. After 30 days post-infection, the animals were sacrificed and microbiological analyzes were performed in the different organs of the gastrointestinal tract. Salmonellae and lactobacilli were counted in the colon using the Salmonella-Shigella (SS) and MRS agar respectively.</p></sec><sec id="s2_4"><title>2.4. Thermal Treatment of Probiotic Strains</title><p>The probiotic strains to be studied were seeded in the MRS broth and incubated at 37˚C for 24 h. This culture was subsequently washed with buffered peptone water and re-suspended in 2 ml of 10% (v/v) Lactose containing 0, 20, 40, 50, 60, 100, and 500 mmol/L of MgSO<sub>4</sub>・7H<sub>2</sub>O, NaCl, ZnCl<sub>2</sub>, CaCl<sub>2</sub>・2H<sub>2</sub>O. The suspensions with the different concentrations of metal salts were homogenized using a vortex at ambient temperature (below 30˚C).</p><p>The whole was heated at 80˚C for 1 min. The number of viable and culturable microorganisms of the Lactobacillus strains was determined by counting on MRS agar and expressed as CFU/ml. The count was done for the strains that had undergone heating and those that did not. The survival rate was expressed as logN/N<sub>0</sub>, where N is the heat-treated population and N<sub>0</sub> the population before heat treatment [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref31">31</xref>] .</p></sec><sec id="s2_5"><title>2.5. Evaluation of Re-Growth of Lactobacillus Strains after Heat Treatment</title><p>In this experiment to evaluate the microbial growth of pre-heated cells, strains of Lactobacillus were cultured in MRS broth contained in test tubes and incubated at 37˚C for 24 h. Then centrifuged at 8000 g, 4˚C for 10 min. The pellet was collected and washed three times with buffered peptone water. The thus washed pellet was re-suspended in 2 ml of a 10% (w/v) lactose solution. The heat treatment was carried out by heating at 80˚C. for 1 min. The thus-heated microbial suspension was seeded into the MRS broth containing the various organic salts at various concentrations. The re-growth of the thus preheated strains was evaluated by measuring the change in optical density at 600 nm of the culture at 37˚C for 48 h. This spectrophotometric measurement was carried out using a microplate reader. The Baranyi model was used to fit the growth curves [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref33">33</xref>] . Two important parameters, the maximum specific growth rate <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x2.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> and duration of the lag phase <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x3.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> were calculated to estimate the re-growth of probiotic strains. The model was based in the assumption that the specific growth rate is practically constant for a phase. The difference between the growth rate and lag phase were studied by comparing their models obtained in the absence and in the presence of mineral salts.</p><p>The Baranyi model used was based on the following differential equation [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref33">33</xref>] [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref34">34</xref>]</p><disp-formula id="scirp.78190-formula2"><label>(1)</label><graphic position="anchor" xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x4.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>where <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x5.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> is the cell density and <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x6.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> is the maximum specific growth rate (h<sup>−1</sup>); <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x7.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>is an adjustment function describing the adaptation of the bacterial population to its new environment and <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x8.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> is an inhibition function describing the end-of-growth inhibition.</p><p>The solution to this differential equation is o</p><disp-formula id="scirp.78190-formula3"><label>(2)</label><graphic position="anchor" xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x9.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>where <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x10.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x11.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula></p><p>From this equation the lag time <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x12.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> is given by:</p><disp-formula id="scirp.78190-formula4"><label>(3)</label><graphic position="anchor" xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x13.png"  xlink:type="simple"/></disp-formula><p>where <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x14.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> represents the physiological state of the inoculum. The plot of the Equation (2) was used for the determination of the maximum specific growth rate <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x15.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> and duration of the lag phase<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x16.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>.</p></sec><sec id="s2_6"><title>2.6. Statistical Analyses</title><p>The re-growth of probiotic strains in the absence and the presence of mineral salts were compared by ANOVA of the growth kinetic parameters. This analysis included the Fisher’s F-test and its associated probability p (F). All these statistical analyses were carried out using a computer’s program Statgraphic plus 5.0.</p></sec></sec><sec id="s3"><title>3. Results</title><sec id="s3_1"><title>3.1. Identification and Selection of LAB with Probiotic Potential</title><p>A total of 25 catalase negative isolates were isolated from the curded milk. A code was attributed to each isolate. Owing the fact that probiotic property most sought in our study was the in-vitro and in-vivo suppression of some food pathogens. Only two isolates codified LS3 and LM4 with these characteristics were retained for further studies. They were identified using API 50 CHL BioMerieux kit as strain of Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum. These two strains were selected based on their great capacity to significantly suppress two important food borne pathogenic bacteria, Esherichia coli and Salomonellaentericaserovar Enteridis (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig1">Figure 1</xref>) common in the several regions of Cameroon.</p><p>The in-vivo probiotic potential of the selected strains was demonstrated by administration of the isolate to one-day old non-infected chick model. The ceaca swabs were analyzed microbiologically by Salmonella count. The results are shown in <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig2">Figure 2</xref>. A significant decrease (P &lt; 0.05) in Salmonella was observed in the samples from chicks that have received L. casei (LS3) and L. plantarum</p><fig id="fig1"  position="float"><label><xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig1">Figure 1</xref></label><caption><title> Inhibitory activity of L. casei (LS3) and L. plantarum (LM4) against E. coli and S. enterica sevovar Enteridis. Values are an average of three replicates &#177; standard deviation</title></caption><graphic mimetype="image"   position="float"  xlink:type="simple"  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x17.png"/></fig><fig id="fig2"  position="float"><label><xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig2">Figure 2</xref></label><caption><title> Salmonella count in caeca swabs from chicks pre-dosed with L. casei (LS3) and L. plantarum (LM4). The control were the chicks that did not receive administration of probiotic. Values are an average of three replicates &#177; standard deviation</title></caption><graphic mimetype="image"   position="float"  xlink:type="simple"  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x18.png"/></fig><p>(LM4). These results suggest that L. casei (LS3) and L. plantarum (LM4) have contributed to a significant reduction of Salmonella in the gastrointestinal tract of the chicks post-inoculation.</p></sec><sec id="s3_2"><title>3.2. Effect of Heat Treatment on the Viability of Selected LAB</title><p>The effect of heating on the survival of the selected isolates is shown in <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig3">Figure 3</xref>. In general, the presence of minerals, Na, Mg, Ca and Zn increased the heat re- sistance of probiotic strains during heating. The increase of this heat-resistance was extended to varying degrees. There was a significant increase (P &lt; 0.05) in</p><fig id="fig3"  position="float"><label><xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig3">Figure 3</xref></label><caption><title> Survival of Lactobacillus casei (LS3) and Lactobacillus plantarum (LM4) in lactose solution supplemented with different concentration of NaCl, MgSO<sub>4</sub>, 7H<sub>2</sub>O, CaCl<sub>2</sub>・2H<sub>2</sub>O, ZnCl<sub>2</sub> after heat treatment. Values are average of three replicates &#177; standard deviation</title></caption><graphic mimetype="image"   position="float"  xlink:type="simple"  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x19.png"/></fig><p>the heat tolerance of probiotic strains (L. casei LS3 and L. plantarum LM4). The comparison of the four mineral salts used also showed that the effects of calcium and magnesium were the most important.</p></sec><sec id="s3_3"><title>3.3. Effect of Mineral Salts on Bile Resistance of Selected LAB</title><p>The presence of mineral salts, in particular the calcium and magnesium salts, improved resistance to bile salts. In the presence of oxgall-bile and calcium, the survival of the strain L. casei (LS3) is greater than 95% after 4 hours of incubation (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig4">Figure 4</xref>). This result was similar with the L. plantarum (LM4) strain.</p></sec><sec id="s3_4"><title>3.4. Re-Growth of Pre-Heated Microbial Strains</title><p>The ability to re-grow after heating was evaluated by measuring the growth kinetic parameters. <xref ref-type="table" rid="table1">Table 1</xref> and <xref ref-type="table" rid="table2">Table 2</xref> summarize the values of kinetic parameters λ and <inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x20.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula> obtained from the Baranyi model. After heating the different strains of probiotic, their ability to regrow was evaluated by measuring the lag</p><fig id="fig4"  position="float"><label><xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig4">Figure 4</xref></label><caption><title> Effect of mineral salts on the bile-resistance of the strain Lactobacillus casei (LS3). Values are an average of three replicates &#177; standard deviation</title></caption><graphic mimetype="image"   position="float"  xlink:type="simple"  xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x21.png"/></fig><table-wrap id="table1" ><label><xref ref-type="table" rid="table1">Table 1</xref></label><caption><title> Effect of the mineral salts on the re-growth of pre-heated probiotic Lactobacillus casei (LS3) strain</title></caption><table><tbody><thead><tr><th align="center" valign="middle"  rowspan="2"  >Kinetic parameter</th><th align="center" valign="middle"  rowspan="2"  >Not heated</th><th align="center" valign="middle"  rowspan="2"  >Heated without mineral</th><th align="center" valign="middle"  colspan="4"  >Heated in the presence of</th></tr></thead><tr><td align="center" valign="middle" >Mg</td><td align="center" valign="middle" >Ca</td><td align="center" valign="middle" >Zn</td><td align="center" valign="middle" >Na</td></tr><tr><td align="center" valign="middle" ><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x22.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >0.145 &#177; 0.00<sup>a</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >0.097 &#177; 0.01<sup>b</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >0.245 &#177; 0.00<sup>c</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >0.403 &#177; 0.02<sup>d</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >0.178 &#177; 0.01<sup>e</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >0.147 &#177; 0.00<sup>a</sup></td></tr><tr><td align="center" valign="middle" ><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x23.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >3.205 &#177; 0.01<sup>a</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >8.254 &#177; 0.01<sup>b</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >2.731 &#177; 0.01<sup>c</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >1.045 &#177; 0.00<sup>d</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >2.785 &#177; 0.00<sup>e</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >3.873 &#177; 0.00<sup>a</sup></td></tr></tbody></table></table-wrap><p>Values are an average of three replicates &#177; standard deviation. Different superscripts letters for the same kinetic parameter indicate a significant difference between the values (analysis of variance test, P &lt; 0.01).</p><table-wrap id="table2" ><label><xref ref-type="table" rid="table2">Table 2</xref></label><caption><title> Effect of the mineral salts on the re-growth of pre-heated probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum (LM4) strain</title></caption><table><tbody><thead><tr><th align="center" valign="middle"  rowspan="2"  >Kinetic parameter</th><th align="center" valign="middle"  rowspan="2"  >Not heated</th><th align="center" valign="middle"  rowspan="2"  >Heated without mineral</th><th align="center" valign="middle"  colspan="4"  >Heated in the presence of</th></tr></thead><tr><td align="center" valign="middle" >Mg</td><td align="center" valign="middle" >Ca</td><td align="center" valign="middle" >Zn</td><td align="center" valign="middle" >Na</td></tr><tr><td align="center" valign="middle" ><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x24.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >0.135 &#177; 0.02<sup>a</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >0.087 &#177; 0.01<sup>b</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >0.205 &#177; 0.01<sup>c</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >0.393 &#177; 0.01<sup>d</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >0.158 &#177; 0.01<sup>e</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >0.137 &#177; 0.01<sup>a</sup></td></tr><tr><td align="center" valign="middle" ><inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x25.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >4.215 &#177; 0.01<sup>a</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >9.254 &#177; 0.02<sup>b</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >3.451 &#177; 0.01<sup>c</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >2.055 &#177; 0.01<sup>d</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >2.987 &#177; 0.01<sup>e</sup></td><td align="center" valign="middle" >4.071 &#177; 0.01<sup>f</sup></td></tr></tbody></table></table-wrap><p>Values are an average of three replicates &#177; standard deviation. Different superscripts letters for the same kinetic parameter indicate a significant difference between the values (analysis of variance test, P &lt; 0.01).</p><p>time and the specific growth rate. In the presence of the mineral salts, growth was improved, there was a significant reduction (P &lt; 0.05) in lag phase duration (λ) and a significant increase (P &lt; 0.05) in the specific maximum growth rate<inline-formula><inline-graphic xlink:href="http://html.scirp.org/file/1-2270967x26.png" xlink:type="simple"/></inline-formula>. These results show that the protective effect of calcium was greater in L. casei (LS3).</p></sec></sec><sec id="s4"><title>4. Discussion</title><p>The isolation of many catalase-negative milk bacteria testifies the fact that milk is a favorable medium for the growth of lactic acid bacteria. The mesophilic lactobacilli were the dominant microflora of our samples of curded milk. These results are similar to those already described by Foschino, Invernizzi [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref35">35</xref>] . The selected strains (LS3 and LM4) meet the criteria required for the probiotics sought in our studies, in particular the antagonistic activity toward food borne pathogenic bacteria. Their ability to reduce (in-vivo) the proliferation of Salmonella entericaserovar Enteridis is of particular interest since this pathogen is commonly encountered in poultry and poultry products. In their study showing the importance of strains of probiotics in poultry La Ragione, Narbad [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref36">36</xref>] obtained similar results. These authors have demonstrated that L. Johnsonii (F19785) colonized the gastrointestinal tract of poultry which result in reduction of S. Enteridis and significant reduction of Clostridium perfringens also common in poultry. Vila, Fontgibell [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref37">37</xref>] in the same way demonstrated the reduction of Salmonella enteric serovar Enteridis by Bacillus cereus serovar Toyoi, These examples highlight the importance of probiotic in breeding, probiotic are actually recommended in breeding of different animals.</p><p>Our results show that the heat treatments which consisted in heating the probiotic strains in the presence of the lactose lead to a significant reduction in the viability of the strains. Loss of the viability of probiotic strains is a major problem encountered in the processing of probiotic foods and probiotic products. This loss of viability leads to a loss of the probiotic properties sought by manufacturers and consumers. Studies conducted by Coeuret, Gueguen [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref20">20</xref>] showed that most of the dairy probiotic products under the market have lost the viability of functional strains that qualified as probiotic foods. Most of these processes involve high temperatures. Hence the importance of thermotolerance of strains used in industrial processes.</p><p>An important research focus on probiotics currently is to find ways to maintain their stability and viability, or to increase their thermotolerance [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref31">31</xref>] . This is why we tested the effect of mineral salts on strains of lactobacilli isolated from curded milk in the locality of Mezam Division, Cameroon.</p><p>Our results highlight the protective effect of minerals such as calcium and magnesium on probiotic strains. This protective effect is due to the fact that calcium and magnesium ions have the property of stabilizing certain structural proteins and even enzymatic ones. Their presence may prevent the rapid denaturation of membrane proteins. Our previous work on thermostable amylases [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.78190-ref38">38</xref>] showed that calcium acts by stabilizing enzymatic proteins at high temperatures. This property could explain the high thermotolerance of microbial strains in the presence of calcium, magnesium and other minerals.</p><p>Our study also shows that mineral salts increase resistance to bile salts of probiotic strains. This resistance could be explained by the stabilization of protein structures in the presence of calcium or magnesium.</p></sec><sec id="s5"><title>5. Conclusion</title><p>This study reveals that the curdled milk traditionally produced by M'bororo peasants in Cameroon is a potential source of thermotolerant lactic acid bacteria with probiotic properties. Calcium and magnesium salts appear in our study as two elements significantly increasing the thermotolerance of probiotic strains. This study demonstrates that an adequate intake of calcium and magnesium in probiotic foods would help to maintain the viability of probiotic strains during and after industrial probiotic food production processes.</p></sec><sec id="s6"><title>Acknowledgements</title><p>The authors would like to acknowledge the Biotechnology Unit of University of Buea, Cameroon, for providing facilities for research.</p></sec><sec id="s7"><title>Cite this paper</title><p>Fossi, B.T., Takop, G.N. and Ndjouenkeu, R. 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