Browsing by Author "Wang, Changyin"

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is a widely-cultivated legume with high nutritional value, especially rich in protein. However, the presence of antinutitional factors (e.g. phytic acid, condensed tannins, vicine and convicine and others) are hindering its utilization. Lactic acid fermentation is widely applied in food production and it is closely related with the promotion of nutritional, technological and health properties of the fermented food. The aim of this master’s thesis was to explore several functional characteristics of 28 lactic acid bacteria previously isolated from Italian and Finnish faba bean sourdoughs. In this study, phytase activity, β-glucosidase activity and the effect on degradation of condensed tannins, which are potentially directed towards reduction of anti-nutritional factors, were investigated. Three peptidase activities and dextran production capacity of the isolates were also evaluated. Besides, six antibiotics were used to study antibiotic susceptibility among the strains. Leuconostoc mesenteroides I01 and Pediococcus pentosaceus I214 expressed the highest phytase activity while P. pentosaceus I02, F01, F213 had the highest β-glucosidase activity. P. pentosaceus F15 was the most effective to decrease condensed tannins. Among analyzed peptidases, PepL showed the highest activity, especially in Pediococcus strains. High dextran production capacity was observed among isolates of Weissella spp. The strains showing functional traits could be used as starter to improve the nutritional and technological properties of faba bean. Further investigation is still ongoing to evaluate other properties of these lactic acid bacteria as functional starter cultures for faba bean and legume fermentation.