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. 2025 Apr 23;13(5):966.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms13050966.

Isolation and Characterization of β-Phenylethylamine-Producing Lactic Acid Bacteria from Dairy Products

Angel Casado  1   2 , Eva Fernández  1   2 , Héctor González  1 , María Fernández  1   2 , Miguel A Alvarez  1   2 , Victor Ladero  1   2
Affiliations

Isolation and Characterization of β-Phenylethylamine-Producing Lactic Acid Bacteria from Dairy Products

Angel Casado et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

β-phenylethylamine (PEA) is a neuroactive trace amine synthesized by the enzymatic decarboxylation of phenylalanine. PEA is involved in the improvement of mood and attention. Functional foods enriched in this compound could, therefore, be of interest to the food industry. PEA is produced by microbial activity in certain foods, but usually only in small amounts. The search for PEA-producing microorganisms with good technological properties is thus a pre-requisite if such functional foods are to be produced. This work reports the isolation of thirty-three PEA-producing bacterial strains from samples of different dairy products. They belong to the genus Enterococcus, and the species Levilactobacillus brevis. Identified strains of Enterococcus durans were then selected for technological characterization. Some of them showed properties of interest. In this species, PEA was determined to be produced via the action of tyrosine decarboxylase, encoded by the gene tdcA. This implies that, apart from PEA, a concomitant production of tyramine, a toxic biogenic amine, was observed.

Keywords: Enterococcus durans; dairy; gene knockout; neuroactive compounds; tyrosine decarboxylase; β-phenylethylamine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Similarity dendrogram based on the combined RAPD typing profiles of the PEA-producing Enterococcus durans isolates obtained with primers OLI5, M13 and 1283. Clustering was performed via the unweighted pair group method using arithmetic averages (UPGMA) and Jaccard similarity coefficients. The source of the isolates is indicated with brackets. Bootstrap values, based on 100 replicates, are indicated at the corresponding branch nodes.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Relative abundance of different volatile compounds produced in milk by PEA-producing Enterococcus durans isolates.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Similarity dendrogram based on the RAPD-PCR profiles in combination with the technological traits of the PEA-producing Enterococcus durans isolates. Clustering was performed via the unweighted pair group method using arithmetic averages (UPGMA) and Jaccard similarity coefficients. The source of the isolates is indicated with brackets. Bootstrap values, based on 100 replicates, are indicated at the corresponding branch nodes.
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