Probiotic-mediated biotransformation of monosodium glutamate to γ-aminobutyric acid: differential production in complex and minimal media and kinetic modelling

Lactic cultures were screened for their ability to accumulate gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the culture medium. Lactobacillus bulgaricus CFR 2028 produced the highest yields of GABA (22.7 mM) from the substrate monosodium glutamate (MSG). Instrumental characterization by high-performance liquid chromatography and structural characterization by mass spectrometry confirmed GABA production by L. bulgaricus CFR 2028. The differential production of GABA in complex and minimal media indicated that minimal medium (modified tryptone, yeast extract and glucose; TYG) supported the highest production of GABA (37 mM), thereby signifying that the acidic pH alone could have a significant bearing on the yield of GABA. This observation opens up avenues for the optimization of the medium components for yield maximization. The biotransformation kinetics of MSG was examined in batch experiments by varying initial MSG concentration (1-5 %). The Monod model was fitted to determine the kinetic parameters under the MSG uninhibited domain, and the MSG inhibited domain was represented well by Briggs-Haldane model.