Cholesterol assimilation activity of lactic acid bacteria isolated from raw milks

Lowering high cholesterol levels reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases and contributes to a better quality in healthy life. The increased awareness of people towards healthy nutrition and the adverse side effects of cholesterol-lowering drugs have accelerated scientific studies on alternative methods to reduce high blood cholesterol levels. Current studies have shown that lactic acid bacteria may have a potential to reduce blood cholesterol levels by different mechanisms. In this study, lactic acid bacteria were isolated from 24 different raw milk samples collected from the center, districts and villages of Burdur city in Turkey. Cholesterol assimilation values (%) of isolates were determined. Nine of the isolates having cholesterol assimilation values ranged from 27.90 to 82.17% were selected and identified according to the results of 16s rRNA sequence analysis. Results indicated that isolates with different levels of cholesterol assimilation activities were determined to be Lactococcus lactis, Lactococcus garvieae, Enterococcus faecium, Enterococcus durans, Enterococcus lactis and Enterococcus mundtii species. The highest cholesterol assimilation value (82.17%) was observed in Enterococcus faecium species.