Study on ATP production of lactic acid bacteria in beer and development of a rapid pre-screening method for beer-spoilage bacteria

Three beer-spoilage strains of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Lactobacillus brevis ABBC45, L. lindneri DSM 20690(T) and L. paracollinoides DSM 15502 T, exhibited strong ATP-yielding ability in beer. To investigate energy sources, these beer-spoilage strains were inoculated into beer. After the growth of the strains in beer, utilized components were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). As a result, it was shown that citrate, pyruvate, malate and arginine were consumed by beer-spoilage LAB strains examined in this study. The four components induced considerable ATP production even in the presence of hop compounds, accounting for the ATP-yielding ability of the beer-spoilage LAB strains observed in beer. We have further examined the ATP-yielding ability of other strains of bacteria in beer. Beer-spoilage bacteria, including Pectinatus frisingensis and R cerevisiiphilus, showed strong ATP-yielding abilities, whereas species frequently isolated from brewery environments exhibited low ATP-yielding abilities. Although some of the nonspoilage LAB strains produced substantial amount of ATP in beer, the measurement of ATP-yielding ability was considered to be useful as a rapid pre-screening method for potential beer-spoilage bacteria isolated from brewery environments.