Unlocking the Probiotic with Antioxidant-Rich Potential from Wine Coffee: In vitro Screening and Characterization

Food companies are becoming interested in lactic acid bacteria (LAB) due to their promising health benefits. LAB can be isolated from several bioresources; nothing is known about the probiotic potential of fermented coffee products like wine coffee. The study aimed to determine the probiotic potential of LAB isolated from wine coffee with antioxidant properties. Characterization of probiotics included antioxidant activity, acidity resistance, bile salt tolerance, antibacterial activity, antibiotic sensitivity, and haemolytic activity. The promising probiotics were identified using 16S rDNA sequences. The current results demonstrated that twenty-five isolates were found in wine coffee, and all showed antioxidant activities. Isolate E1 has the highest antioxidant activity (64.31%) among others. Isolates D4 and E2 were proposed as potential probiotics due to survival at low pH (pH 2) and bile salt (2%), inhibit Bacilluscereus ATCC 1178, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213, and Salmonella Typhimurium TRD1, and do not display haemolytic activity. Isolates D4 and E2 demonstrated resistant to Kanamycin and Aztreonam. Based on molecular identification, isolates E2 and D4 were identified as Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, E1 was identified as Lacticaseibacillus paracasei. These LAB isolates are promising probiotic candidates and require further validation of their strain-specific potential. Key words: Fermentation; functional food; Lacticaseibacillus paracasei; Lactiplantibacillus plantarum; probiotic potential.