Probiotic and related properties of a novel lactic acid bacteria strain isolated from fermented rose jam

In the present study, 61 strains of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from ten spontaneously fermented rose jams and were screened through a series of in vitro probiotic tests, including resistance to low pH, bile salts, simulated gastric and simulated pancreatic digestion, as well as antibiotic susceptibility. Five isolates showed good probiotic activity and were identified as P. pentosaceus MP3, P. pentosaceus MP11, P. pentosaceus MP13, P. pentosaceus MP16, and P. pentosaceus MY8 by 16 S rRNA sequencing. Among them, P. pentosaceus MP13 had the best characteristics, which were similar to or even better than the reference probiotic L. plantarum ATCC 8014. In addition, the technological performance of P. pentosaceus MP13 as a rose jam starter was evaluated. Compared with the spontaneously fermented control (without inoculum), rose jam fermented with MP13 increased anthocyanin, total flavonoid total phenol, and DPPH contents in the rose jam, and improved the flavor of the rose jam. These results indicate that the MP13 strain has potential probiotic properties, and is suitable to be used as a candidate probiotic bacteria and starter culture to improve the traditional fermentation process and develop functional foods.