Putrescine production from different amino acid precursors by lactic acid bacteria from wine and cider

• This is a study of the amino acid precursors related with putrescine production
• TLC is a useful method for BA detection.
• Putrescine production from agmatine is a feature of most Lactobacillus brevis strains.
• Tyramine and putrescine production is correlated in Lactobacillus brevis.
• One Pediococcus strain possessed both pathways, ADI and AgDI, for putrescine production.

The aim of this work was to study the production of biogenic amines and particularly putrescine in lactic acid bacteria (LAB) related to wine and cider. We applied an analytical protocol that involves the use of PCR and TLC techniques to determine the production of putrescine from different precursors. Moreover, we also studied the ability of the Lactobacillus and Pediococcus tested to produce histamine and tyramine. The results showed that the majority of the Lactobacillus brevis analyzed harbour both AgDI and tdc genes and are tyramine and putrescine producers. Conversely, among the other LAB tested, only one Lactobacillus hilgardii and one Pediococcus pentosaceus produced putrescine. The AgDI gene was also detected in two other LAB (Lactobacillus mali and Pediococcus parvulus), but no putrescine production was observed. Finally, hdc gene and histamine production were found in strains (L. hilgardii 5211, isolated from wine, and Lactobacillus casei 18, isolated from cider) that were not putrescine producers.