Jasna Mrvčić, T. Prebeg, Lidija Barišić
Nov 27, 2009
Citations
2
Influential Citations
42
Citations
Journal
Food Technology and Biotechnology
Abstract
Zinc is an essential trace element for all organisms. A common method for the prevention of zinc deficiency is pharmacological supplementation, especially in a high available form of a metalo-protein complex. The potential of different microbes in binding of essential and toxic heavy metals has been recently recognized. In this work, biosorption of zinc by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) was investigated. Specific LAB were assessed for their ability to bind zinc from water solution. Significant amount of zinc ions were bound, and this binding was found to be strain specific. Differences among the strains in binding performance at a concentration range between 10 – 90 mg/L were evaluated with Langmuir model for biosorption. Binding of zinc was a fast process, strongly influenced by ionic strength, pH, biomass concentration, and temperature. The most effective metal binding strain was Leuconostoc mesenteroides (27.10 mg Zn2+/g dm bounded at pH=5 and 32 °C, during 24 hours). FT-IR spectroscopy analysis and electron microscopy demonstrated that passive adsorption and active uptake of the zinc ions were involved.