Abstract: The tolerance of Lactobacillus plantarum NCU116 in several stimulated human digestive environments such as artificial gastric fluid, artificial intestinal fluid, bile salt environment and high salt environment was investigated. The results showed that survival rates of Lactobacillus plantarum NCU116 were 32.62% and 45.76% after 3 h of incubation in artificial gastric fluid with pH 1.5 and pH 2.5, respectively, and a higher survival rate was achieved when the pH of artificial gastric fluid equaled or exceeded 3.5. After 4 h incubation in artificial intestinal fluid, the strain revealed a survival rate of 49.63%. The number of viable NCU116 cells after 24 hours of incubation in bile salt environment exhibited a downward trend as the concentration of bile salt increased from 0.03 to 1.00 g/100 mL, and remained higher than 107 CFU/mL at the highest bile salt concentration. The number of viable NCU116 cells after 24 hours of incubation in high-concentration NaCl environment slightly declined with increasing NaCl concentration from 1 to 8 g/100 mL, and was higher than 108 CFU/mL when the NaCl concentration was 8 g/100 mL. In summary, Lactobacillus plantarum NCU116 has excellent tolerance in artificial gastric fluid, artificial intestinal fluid, bile salt environment and high salt environment and will thus have promising application prospects in the food and healthcare food industries.

Key words: Lactobacillus plantarum NCU116, gastrointestinal environment, high salt environment, tolerance