%0 Journal Article
%T Use of central composite design in food microbiology: a case study on the effects of secondary phenols on lactic acid bacteria from olives.
%A Speranza B
%A Racioppo A
%A Sinigaglia M
%A Corbo MR
%A Bevilacqua A
%J Int J Food Sci Nutr
%V 66
%N 5
%D 2015
%M 26171633
%F 4.444
%R 10.3109/09637486.2015.1064866
%X This paper focuses on the use of statistical Design of Experiments (DoE) to investigate the effects of two anti-lactic acid bacteria compounds on growth and metabolism of lactobacilli isolated from Italian table olives. p-Coumaric and vanillic acids (0.0-0.4%) were used as phenolic compounds, which were combined with salt (0.0-6.0%) and glucose (0.0-4.0%) through a Central Composite Design. Three strains of Lactobacillus plantarum (5 log cfu/ml) were used as test organisms, samples were stored at 37 °C, and cell counts and pH were evaluated periodically. The growth of lactobacilli was affected in a significant way by salt, p-coumaric and vanillic acids, being the salt the most significant factor after 24 h (short storage time), then replaced by p-coumaric acid. p-Coumaric acid also played a significant role on the acidifying ability, expressed as decrease of pH of the medium: microbial metabolism, in fact, appeared as completely inhibited at 0.2% of p-coumaric acid.