Background: L-glutamic acid, the principal excitatory neurotransmitter
in the brain and an important intermediate in metabolism acts as a
precursor of \u3b3-amino butyric acid (GABA). In the present study,
culture condition for enhanced glutamic acid production by
Lactobacillus plantarum MNZ was optimized and the influence of such
conditions on GABA production was evaluated. Results: Results indicated
that glutamic acid increased up to 3-fold (3.35) under the following
condition: pH 4.5, temperature 37\ub0C, 12% (w/v) glucose and 0.7%
(w/v) ammonium nitrate; whilst GABA production was enhanced up to
10-fold under the following condition: pH 4.5, temperature 37oC, 6%
(w/v) glucose and 0.7% (w/v) ammonium nitrate. Conclusions: This is the
first report for dual biosynthesizing activities of a lactic acid
bacterium for the production of glutamic acid and GABA. The results of
this study can be further used for developing functional foods rich
inglutamic acid and subsequently GABA as a bioactive compound