Abstract
Soybean curd whey(SCW) containing plenty of nutrients is the discarded by-product in soybean curd processing. To test the potential utilization of SCW as a medium for the cultivation of Lactobacilus acidophilus, the chemical composition of SCW, as well as the growth, acid production, acid-tolerance, and bile-tolerance of L. acidophilus in SCW-based media were investigated. Sucrose and stachyose, the main free sugars of SCW, were 0.42% and 0.41%, respectively. SCW contained 36.1mg/L of total free amino acids. L. acidophilus KFRI 150 showed lower cell growth and acid production in SCW than those in MRS broth. In optimized SCW-based medium supplemented with 1.0% glucose, 0.5% yeast extract, and 0.2% $K_{2}HPO_{4}$, the growth and acid production of L. acidophilus KFRI 150 increased by twice against those in SCW. In optimized SCW-based medium, the viable counts of four L. acidophilus strains were mostly at the level of $10^{9}$/ml, which is similar to those in MRS broth. Each acid-tolerance and biletolerance of four L. acidophilus strains cultured in optimized SCW-based medium and MRS broth showed no dist-inguishable difference.
