Increase of conjugated linoleic acid content of dairy products by adding sunflower oil

Abstract

In our experiments we investigated the effect of linoleic acid supplementation on the CLA production of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus casei. We established that a supplementation with 100 µl/100 ml sunflower oil with high linoleic acid content increased CLA content of the sour final product, from 116 to 178 for Lactobacillus acidophilus, while for Lactobacillus plantarum from 116 to 187 mg/100 g fat (about 40%). Supplementation with amounts higher than 100 µl sunflower oil reduced the CLA content. In the case of Lactobacillus casei the the increment percent of CLA was only 20%, and it appears that in the range of 100-1500 µl/100 ml sunflower oil supple- mentation the amount of linoleic acid does not affect the CLA content.