Production of conjugated linoleic acid by lactic acid bacteria in milk without any additional substrate

This study was undertaken to evaluate the production and isomeric distribution of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in milk fermented with lactic acid bacteria (LAB. A total of 155 cultures of LAB were analysed. Control milk samples had an average CLA content of 0.41 g/100 g of fatty acids (FA), while the lactic cultures produced CLA in the range of 0.43–1.12 g. No major changes in free fatty acids profiles were observed in milk samples fermented with CLA‐producing LAB. The present study demonstrated that LAB can increase levels of CLA in nonsupplemented milk fermented for a short period of 4 h.