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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Metabolic Modulation of Yogurt Fermentation Kinetics and Storage Stability by Lactobacillus-Starter Culture Interactions

by
Meilun An
1,
Zhi Zhao
1,
Liang Zhao
1,
Jianjun Yang
1,
Haina Gao
2,3,
Lele Zhang
1,
Guoping Zhao
2,3,
Baochao Hou
3,
Jian He
3,
Wei-Lian Hung
3,
Baolei Li
3,
Yangyang Yu
4,
Shaoyang Ge
5,
Xiaoxia Li
1,* and
Ran Wang
1,*
1
Key Laboratory of Functional Dairy, Department of Nutrition and Health, Co-Constructed by Ministry of Education and Beijing Government, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100190, China
2
School of Food and Health, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China
3
National Center of Technology Innovation for Dairy, Hohhot 100118, China
4
Engineering Research Center of Bio-Process, Ministry of Education, School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230601, China
5
Beijing Heyiyuan Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Beijing 100089, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Foods 2025, 14(17), 2935; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14172935
Submission received: 11 July 2025 / Revised: 12 August 2025 / Accepted: 21 August 2025 / Published: 22 August 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Food Biotechnology)
Versions Notes

Abstract

Lactobacillus-enriched yogurt is in increasingly high demand due to its health benefits, but the product stability requires an understanding of the microbial dynamics during fermentation and storage. This study investigated the interactions between probiotic pairs (L. paracasei L9 and L. acidophilus LAC) and starter culture (HYY) through fermentation kinetics, microbial viability, organic acid profiles, and metabolomics. The results demonstrated that L. paracasei L9 significantly increased the titratable acidity from 25.20 ± 7.01 °T to 36.56 ± 3.47 °T at 3 h and reduced the fermentation time by 0.5 h, whereas L. acidophilus LAC showed minimal effects. L. paracasei L9 achieved higher viability (8.4 lg CFU/g) via the high-affinity lactose transport and Leloir pathway, whereas the L. acidophilus LAC growth remained limited (6.9 lg CFU/g). The metabolomic investigation revealed the L9 + HYY upregulated glycerophospholipid metabolism and pantothenate/CoA biosynthesis to support rapid biomass accumulation. In contrast, LAC + HYY modulated the arginine and branched-chain amino acid metabolism for acid tolerance. During 21 days of storage, there were no significant differences in final TA values and lactic acid content among the probiotic supplementation groups. L9 + HYY remained stable (>9.0 lg CFU/g) by upregulating the aromatic amino acid biosynthesis and suppressing the purine/sulfur metabolism, whereas L. acidophilus LAC decreased to 6.02 lg CFU/g. These findings demonstrate the dual role of L. paracasei L9 in accelerating the fermentation and maintaining the microbial stability through metabolic reprogramming, which guides the development of improved probiotic yogurts.
Keywords: probiotic yogurt; fermentation kinetics; microbial viability; metabolomics probiotic yogurt; fermentation kinetics; microbial viability; metabolomics

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

An, M.; Zhao, Z.; Zhao, L.; Yang, J.; Gao, H.; Zhang, L.; Zhao, G.; Hou, B.; He, J.; Hung, W.-L.; et al. Metabolic Modulation of Yogurt Fermentation Kinetics and Storage Stability by Lactobacillus-Starter Culture Interactions. Foods 2025, 14, 2935. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14172935

AMA Style

An M, Zhao Z, Zhao L, Yang J, Gao H, Zhang L, Zhao G, Hou B, He J, Hung W-L, et al. Metabolic Modulation of Yogurt Fermentation Kinetics and Storage Stability by Lactobacillus-Starter Culture Interactions. Foods. 2025; 14(17):2935. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14172935

Chicago/Turabian Style

An, Meilun, Zhi Zhao, Liang Zhao, Jianjun Yang, Haina Gao, Lele Zhang, Guoping Zhao, Baochao Hou, Jian He, Wei-Lian Hung, and et al. 2025. "Metabolic Modulation of Yogurt Fermentation Kinetics and Storage Stability by Lactobacillus-Starter Culture Interactions" Foods 14, no. 17: 2935. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14172935

APA Style

An, M., Zhao, Z., Zhao, L., Yang, J., Gao, H., Zhang, L., Zhao, G., Hou, B., He, J., Hung, W.-L., Li, B., Yu, Y., Ge, S., Li, X., & Wang, R. (2025). Metabolic Modulation of Yogurt Fermentation Kinetics and Storage Stability by Lactobacillus-Starter Culture Interactions. Foods, 14(17), 2935. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14172935

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