Screening of lactic acid bacteria for degrading organophosphorus pesticides and their potential protective effects against pesticide toxicity

Organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) are a group of common residual pollutants in food that cause serious harm to human health. In the present study, the ability of 10 lactic acid bacteria (LAB) to degrade OPPs (dimethoate, parathion methyl, trichlorfon and chlorpyrifos) was explored for their potential application to degrade OPPs in fermented food. The results showed that some LAB can survive in the presence of OPPs and degrade them significantly in a short time. Among these, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum subsp. plantarum CICC20261 (L. plantarum 20261) showed the highest degradation ability. The degradation behavior of OPPs by L. plantarum 20261 followed pseudo-zero-order kinetic model (k = 1.0939–1.5915). Phosphatase produced by the strain played the key role in the degradation of OPPs because its activity was positively related to the degradation of OPPs (r = 0.975–0.995). Phosphatase could degrade OPPs rapidly in vitro, further confirmed that L. plantarum 20261 degraded rather than adsorped the OPPs. In addition, the excellent antioxidant ability of LAB and the tolerance of simulated gastric and intestinal juices showed their potential protective effects against oxidative damage induced by pesticides in vivo.