The present invention is directed to a process for the preparation of a fermentation broth.

Whey is a by-product of the cheese industry and still contains about 55 % of total milk nutrients with 44 to 52 g/1 lactose, 6 to 10 g/1 proteins, 3 to 7 g/1 minerals, and about 4 to 5 g/1 fat. There are two types of whey: (1) sweet whey from rennet-induced coagulation and (2) acid whey from fermentations or from ac- id-coagulation. Whey permeate is obtained after ultrafiltration of whey and contains less than 1.5 g/1 protein. Disposal of whey and whey permeate leads to significant waste of potential food and energy and to severe environmental problems; it affects the physical and chemical structure of soil and reduces the aquatic life by depleting the dissolved oxygen (Panesar et al., 2007; Vasala et al., 2005; Gonzales Siso, 1996).

Whey utilization has been the subject of extensive research and a wide range of products can be ob- tained from whey and whey fermentations, such as lactose, ethanol, microbial biomass, organic acids, and fermented beverages. However, recovery costs dominate the economics of the processes (Mawson, 2003; Gonzales Siso, 1996) . Furthermore, supplementation with easy di- gestible N-compounds is mandatory for using whey as a substrate for fermentations (Lund et al., 1992).

Lactic acid bacteria, abbreviated with LAB, and propionic acid bacteria, abbreviated with PAB, have a long tradition in food fermentations. LAB cause rapid acidification through the production of organic acids and produce other substances, such as aroma compounds, bacteriocins and exopolysaccharides. Some LAB are known to produce folate (Leroy and De Vuyst, 2004) .

The term "folate" is a non-specific term referring to any folate compound with vitamin activity and a basic structure similar to folic acid. The term "folic acid" is used for the chemically synthesized vitamin (Hugenholtz and Smid, 2002) .

In the present invention the term "folate" is used to describe at least one folate compound with vita- min activity.

PAB produce propionate and acetate as main fermentation end products, but are also known for the production of vitamin B12 in large amounts as well as folate (Hugenholtz et al. , 2002; Hettinga and Reinbold, 1972).

The term "vitamin B12" is used to describe any compound of the cobalamin group. Cyanocobalamin, vitamin B12 by definition, is produced industrially but is not found in nature (Piao et al., 2004) .

In the present invention the term "vitamin

B12" is used to describe at least one compound of the cobalamin group, for example hydroxocobalamin, aquoco- balamin, nitritocobalamin, adenosylcobalamin, and me- thylcobalamin .

Folate biosynthesis starts from the 3 precursors guanosine triphosphate, abbreviated with GTP, p- aminobenzoate, abbreviated with pABA, and glutamate and is produced" by many plants, some fungi and bacteria (Quinlivan et al., 2006; Sybesma et al., 2003) . Vitamin B12 is only produced by bacteria. Its biosynthesis is different in aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms and starts from the 3 precursors uroporphyrinogen III, 5, 6-dimethylbenzimidazole, abbreviated with DMBI, and an adenosyl-moiety in the case of adenosylco- balamin (Hugenholtz and Smid, 2002; Martens et al. , 2002) .

In PAB, production is divided in 2 stages: an anaerobic stage for the first 3 days of fermentation, where the bacteria produce the vitamin B12 precursor co- bamide, followed by an aerobic stage for 1 to 3 days for the synthesis of DMBI and its linkage to cobamide. The exact explanation for the aerobic stimulation of vitamin B12 production, however, is not yet known (Murooka et al., 2005; Hugenholtz et al., 2002) .

Nevertheless, for an improved vitamin B12 production, the addition of cobalt ions and DMBI in a 2- step fermentation process led to major improvement in vitamin B12 production in all cases (Survase et al., 2006) .

The time of addition of DMBI thereby seems to be important and should occur during the last 24 h of fermentation, since Marwaha et al. (1983) found that DMBI added in an earlier stage inhibited growth and vi- tamin B12 production of PAB. Similar, Berry and Buller- man (1966) reported on negative effects of DMBI on vitamin B12 production if given at the beginning of fermentation compared to no addition of DMBI.

LAB and PAB often grow in mixed cultures, such as in dairy products (e.g. Swiss cheese) or in silage.

Interactions of mixed cultures can have a positive, neu- tral or negative effect on the fitness of the cells, depending on species and strains (Sieuwerts et al., 2008; Liu and Moon, 1982) .

Furthermore, there are LAB - PAB co-cultures described with increased antimicrobial properties if grown together compared to individual cultures (Miescher Schwenninger and Meile, 2004) .

Organic acids produced by these bacteria, i.e. acetate and propionate, are strong antimicrobial agents with minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of 50 to

500 mM for acetate and 10 to 670 mM for propionate, depending on pH and organism (Miescher Schwenninger et al., 2008; Suomalainen and Mayra-Makinen, 1999) .

Sufficient intake of folate in industrialized countries is assumed to be critical due to low folate concentrations in the daily food. Average intakes are estimated to be 200 to 300 μg per day, and the adult recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for folate is set to 200 to 400 μg per day (Tδnz, 2002; Forssen et al., 2000) .

Contrary, vitamin B12 intake is above the RDA of 1 to 3 μg per day and deficiencies may occur only in strict vegans and people having gastro-intestinal or other disorders. However, due to a reduced absorption, vitamin B12 deficiency of more than 20% in elderly people is recognized (Ryan-Harshmann and Aldoori, 2008; Frank, 2002) .

Folates are biologically active by carrying C- 1 units for the production of DNA and RNA but also for the metabolism of certain amino acids. A low folate sta- tus leads to megaloblastic anemia, an increased incidence of birth defects, is a risk factor for cancer and coronary vascular diseases, and is linked to dementia and Alzheimer (Bekaert et al., 2008; Witthδft and Jager- stad, 2002) .

Folate stands in close metabolic relationship to vitamin B12 via methionine transferase, which is a vitamin B12 dependent enzyme needed to restore folate back to its active form (Reynolds, 2006) .

As for folate, vitamin B12 deficiencies lead to megaloblastic anemia, but also to neurological and psychiatric disorders (Truswell, 2007) .

A major concern of a folate supplementation in humans is the masking of a vitamin B12 deficiency and therefore an irreversible damage to the nervous system (Stover, 2004) .

Several other potential negative impacts have been reported for folate supplementation in the presence of a low vitamin B12 status. New evidence suggested that persons with a low vitamin B12 status and high folate concentrations were at high risk of memory impairment and anemia (Refsum and Smith, 2008; Johnson, 2007) .

Recent data thus indicate the importance to maintain a good balance between folate and vitamin B12. Co-fortification with folate and vitamin B12 could simultaneously improve folate and vitamin B12 status (Win- kels et al., 2008) . Based on dietary recommendations, a folate to vitamin B12 ratio of 130 - 200:1 would be optimal for food supplementation. Recent data also suggested the need to distinguish naturally occurring folate from the synthetic form of folate, called folic acid, which is produced commercially by chemical synthesis and added to supplements and fortified foods (Wright et al., 2007; Ulrich and Potter, 2006; Lucock, 2000) . It was shown that the absorption and biotransformation of synthetic folic acid has a saturation level, which, if exceeded, might raise the possibility of an exposure to unmetabolized folic acid. The health risk of such an exposure is not yet known in detail, but it might increase the risk for some cancers .

Synthetic folic acid is cheap to produce and highly stable in contrast to most of the natural forms of this vitamin. Several methods for synthesizing folic acid have been described, but so far only yields of 12.6 -84% were obtained depending on the process (Wehrli, 1995) . In 1991, ca. 300 t of folic acid were produced worldwide with a value of about 30 million USD (Eurolex, 2003) .

In contrast to the chemically synthesized folic acid, vitamin B12 is exclusively produced by biosyn- thetic fermentation processes, because a chemical synthesis is far too technically challenging and expensive. More than 10 t of vitamin B12 are produced each year. High vitamin B12 yields are thereby obtained using selected and genetically optimized microorganisms (Martens et al. , 2002) .

Using food grade microorganisms, however, has the advantage that vitamins can be produced in situ in food, which makes a complex extraction and purification of the vitamins unnecessary. Furthermore, products containing adequate concentrations of naturally produced folate and vitamin B12 can avoid the problematic intake of synthetic folic acid since no adverse health risks of naturally produced fo- late are known. At the same time they may contribute to a sufficient and balanced intake of both vitamins which is important for their beneficial effects.

It is an object of the present invention to reduce the year-to-year increasing amount of whey that is obtained as a by-product during cheese production.

Whey shall be transformed into a convertible and demanded new product that shall have a high market value.

It is a further object of the present inven- tion to provide a process for the preparation of a fermentation broth.

In this process whey shall be used as growth medium, especially supplemented whey and/or supplemented whey permeate, whereby said whey is preferably obtained as a by-product during cheese production.

The fermentation broth obtained by this process shall contain naturally produced folate and naturally produced vitamin B12 in adequate concentrations.

The fermentation broth obtained by this proc- ess shall have a nutritional value and/or antimicrobial properties .

In this process bacteria shall be used that produce folate and/or vitamin B12. This process shall be simple and cost advantageous .

With the present invention these objects are achieved.

Quite surprisingly it has been found that applying co-cultures consisting of folate and vitamin B12 producing LAB and PAB strains and using their complementary metabolisms for a simultaneous production of both vitamins, can be used to produce such a fermentation broth.

In addition, using co-cultures of folate and vitamin B12 producing LAB and PAB strains leads to an increased folate content compared to a single culture with only LAB.

The present invention is directed to a process for the preparation of a fermentation broth, containing

- at least one lactic acid bacterium, abbreviated with LAB, that produces folate,

- at least one propionic acid bacterium, ab- breviated with PAB, that produces vitamin B12,

- free folate and folate present in intracellular form in said lactic acid bacterium,

- vitamin B12 present in intracellular form in said propionic acid bacterium,

- propionate, and - acetate ,

characterized in that

a mixture of

- at least one lactic acid bacterium, that produces folate,

- at least one propionic acid bacterium, that produces vitamin B12, and

- a growth medium for culturing bacteria, that contains an added cobalt salt,

is prepared, then

this mixture is cultivated for at least 96 hours under conditions that enable the formation of said folate and of said vitamin B12, and

finally the resulting fermentation broth is collected.

A fermentation broth, containing

- at least one lactic acid bacterium, abbreviated with LAB, that produces folate,

- at least one propionic acid bacterium, ab- breviated with PAB, that produces vitamin B12,

- free folate and folate present in intracellular form in said lactic acid bacterium, - vitamin B12 present in intracellular form in said propionic acid bacterium,

- propionate, and

- acetate,

may be used

-- as a food, or

— as an additive for food or for a food supplement, or

— as an active component in a medicament for the prevention and/or treatment of vitamin deficiencies, or

— for the preparation of a medicament for the prevention and/or treatment of vitamin deficiencies.

Preferred embodiments of this invention are defined in the dependent claims.

In the following part possible embodiments of the present invention are described.

The following examples shall illustrate the present invention.

Example 1 (Preparation of a fermentation broth) All chemicals were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich Chemie GmbH, Buchs, Switzerland, unless otherwise stated.

A. Inoculum

Lactobacillus plantarum SM39 / DSM 22118 - deposited on 15.12. 2008 at DSMZ (Braunschweig, Germany) - and Propionibacterium freudenreichii DF13 / DSM 22120 - deposited on 15.12. 2008 at DSMZ (Braunschweig, Germany) - were kept separately as frozen stocks at a temperature of -80 ⁰ C in glycerol (1:1) and subcultured separately at least three times at a temperature of 30 ⁰ C in supplemented whey permeate (abbreviated with SWP; see below) prior to the preparation of the inoculum. OD600 (optical density, measured at 600 nm) of freshly grown cultures (4 d for PAB, 1 d for LAB) was measured and set to 2.0 for PAB and 0.2 for LAB, corresponding to 10 ⁹ and 10 ⁷ cfu/ml [colony forming unit/ml] , respectively. A 1-% inoculum of each of these standardized cultures was then used to inoculate the fermentors.

B. Preparation of supplemented whey permeate

(SWP)

SWP consisted of 6 % whey permeate (w/v) , 0.98 % K ₂ HPO ₄ (w/v), 0.48 % KH ₂ PO ₄ (w/v), 0.02 % magnesium sulfate (w/v), 0.005 % manganese sulfate (w/v), and 1 % yeast extract (w/v) and had a final pH of 6.2. Its preparation was done as follows:

8.6 % whey permeate (w/v; Emmi Schweiz AG, Dagmersellen, Switzerland, "Permeatpulver" article number 1000074/FP1076) with pH adjusted to 5.0 (5 M HCl) was autoclaved (121°C, 15 min) and filtered (cellulose acetate membrane, 0.2 μm; VWR International AG, Di- etikon, Switzerland) . 700 ml of this autoclaved and filtered whey permeate was mixed with 150 ml of a Mg/Mn solution [2.73 g/1 magnesium sulfate heptahydrate and 0.37 g/1 manganese sulfate monohydrate] and autoclaved again (121°C, 15 min) .

Additionally, 100 ml 1 M potassium phosphate buffer (pH 6.4) and 50 ml 20 % yeast extract (w/v, VWR International AG, Dietikon, Switzerland) were mixed and autoclaved (121°C, 15 min) .

Said 1 M potassium phosphate buffer was prepared by mixing 27.8 ml of 1 M K ₂ HPO ₄ and 72.2 ml of 1 M KH ₂ PO ₄ .

Finally, both solutions were either asepti- cally mixed in a sterile flask for the preparation of the inoculum or aseptically added to the fermentor with the aid of a sterile funnel together with the standardized inoculum.

For efficient growth of PAB for the prepara- tion of the inoculum, lactate was added to SWP. Therefore, 1.3 % sodium D/L- lactate syrup 60 % (w/v), 50 ml 20 % yeast extract (w/v) , and 100 ml 1 M potassium phosphate buffer (pH 6.6) were mixed and autoclaved (121°C, 15 min). Phosphate buffer with a pH of 6.6 (instead of 6.4) was chosen in order to get the same final pH of 6.2 after autoclaving, as for SWP without addition of lactate.

Said 1 M potassium phosphate buffer was prepared by mixing 38.1 ml of 1 M K ₂ HPO ₄ and 61.9 ml of 1 M KH ₂ PO ₄ . C. Fermentation conditions

7-days batch fermentations were carried out in 1-liter bioreactors (Multiforce, Inforce HT, Bottmingen, Switzerland) under anaerobic conditions for 3 days, followed by aerobic conditions for 4 days. Fermentors were equipped with an aseptic sampling device, temperature control, pH electrode, base pump, air and base inlet. Fermentation parameters are shown in Table 1.

Table 1 ; Fermentation parameters.

Anaerobic conditions were obtained by a continuous flow of pure N ₂ (headspace, 1.2 bar, 0.15 1/min) , containing not more than 3 ppm of Q ₂ , and aerobic conditions by a continuous flow of air (headspace, 1.2 bar, 0.1 1/min) . 10 ml of sterile filtrated (0.2-μm filter; Sartorius Minisart-Plus; VWR International AG, Dietikon, Switzerland) DMBI (0.75 mg/ml) were added for the last 2 days of fermentation. 5 ml of sterile filtrated pABA (1 mg/ml) and 0.5 ml of cobalt chloride (5 mg/ml) were added at the beginning of fermentation.

At the end of fermentation the resulting cul- tured medium was collected.

During fermentation, cell counts, organic acids, sugars and vitamins (folate and vitamin B12) were controlled regularly. Therefore, 5 to 25 ml samples were collected every 3 h on the first day (day 0) and once a day from day 1 to 7 for the following analyses: plate counts, HPLC analyses for sugars and organic acids, microbiological determination of folate, HPLC analyses for vitamin B12 (day 3 to 7), and microscopic analysis. In addition, a 40-ml sample collected on day 7 was stored at a temperature of -20°C. Plating as well as folate and vitamin B12 analyses were done immediately after collecting the samples. For HPLC analyses of sugars and organic acids, the samples were centrifuged (10' 000 x g, 10 min; Centrifuge 5417R, Eppendorf, Germany) , sterile filtrated (0.2-μm filter; Sartorius Minisart-Plus; VWR International AG, Dietikon, Switzerland) and the cell- free supernatants were stored at a temperature of -20 ⁰ C for a maximum of 2 month before analysis.

D. Bacterial enumeration by plate count:

Samples were serially diluted in NaCl-peptone water (0.85% NaCl (w/v; Mallinckrodt Baker, Inc., USA) - 0.1% peptone (w/v) ) and drops of 20 μl of appropriate dilutions were placed on agar plates. For enumeration of LAB, "MRS medium" (Labo-Life Sari, Pully, Switzerland; De Man et al. , 1960) was used and for PAB NL medium (so- dium lactate medium) , containing 1 % tryptic soy broth without dextrose (w/v; Beckton Dickinson, Allschwil, Switzerland) , 1 % yeast extract (w/v; VWR International AG, Dietikon, Switzerland), and 1.3 % sodium D/L-lactate syrup 60 % (w/v) according to Grinstead and Barefoot (1992) . After drying the drops, the plates were incubated anaerobically at a temperature of 30 ⁰ C for 6 days for PAB and at a temperature of 37 ⁰ C for 2 days for LAB. On NL medium only brown colonies were counted that corresponded to PAB. Cell counts were performed in dupli- cate and mean values were expressed as LoglO cfu/ml fermented medium.

E. Folate (microbiological assay) analysis:

Extracellular folate were quantified using a microbiological assay with L. casei ATCC7469 as indica- tor strain in microtiter plates according to Home and Patterson (1988), with the following modifications:

El. Preparation of standardized inoculum:

The inoculum of the indicator strain L. casei ATCC7469 was prepared according to Becton Dickinson, modified as follows: 10 ml "Micro Inoculum Broth" (Beck- ton Dickinson, Allschwil, Switzerland) were inoculated with 1 % L. casei ATCC7469 and incubated at a temperature of 37 ⁰ C over night. This procedure was repeated once again. The second culture was centrifuged (10 '000 x g, 10 min, 4 ⁰ C; Centrifuge 5417R, Eppendorf) and the pellet was washed 4-times with a 0.85-% NaCl solution (Mallinckrodt Baker, Inc., USA). After washing, the pellet was resuspended in 10 ml 2-fold concentrated "Folic Acid Casei Medium" (Beckton Dickinson, Allschwil, Switzerland) and 100-fold diluted with fresh 2-fold concen- trated "Folic Acid Casei Medium". Volumes of 1 ml were filled into "cryo vials" (Huber + Co, Reinach BL, Switzerland) containing 1 ml 80 % sterile glycerol and were stored at a temperature of -80 °C until usage.

E2. Preparation of samples:

2-ml fermentation samples - as obtained in the above step C - were centrifuged (10 '000 x g, 10 min; Centrifuge 5417R, Eppendorf) and sterile filtrated (0.2- μm filter; Sartorius Minisart-Plus; VWR International AG, Dietikon, Switzerland). They were 1'5OO - to 15 ¹ OOO- fold diluted in folate buffer [0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer, pH 6.8, 0.1 % ascorbic acid (VWR International AG, Dietikon, Switzerland), 0.01 M 2-mercaptoethanol] in order to obtain folate concentrations in the range from 0.0312 to 0.625 ng/ml and were stored at a temperature of 4 ⁰ C in dark for a maximum of 4 days before performing the assay.

E3. Assay:

Each microtiter plate (Optical 96-Well Reaction Plate with Barcode; Applied Biosystems, Rotkreuz, Switzerland) was filled with either 150 μl sample - as obtained in the above step E2 - or with folic acid standard (Schircks Laboratories, Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland) . This folic acid standard was prepared in folate buffer [0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer pH 6.8, 0.1 % as- corbie acid (VWR International AG, Dietikon, Switzerland) , 0.01 M 2-mercaptoethanol] in a range from 0.0078 to 10 ng/ml. Two "cryo vials" with standardized inoculum - as obtained in the above step El - were thawed and added to 10 ml 2-fold concentrated "Folic Acid Casei Medium". 150 μl of this diluted inoculum were then added to the above mentioned 150 μl samples or standards resulting in a final volume of 300 μl per well. Growth of the indicator organism L. casei ATCC7469 was determined by measuring optical density at 600 nm before and after an anaerobic incubation period of 20 h at a temperature of 37 ⁰ C. Folate concentrations of the samples were calculated by comparing the optical density of said samples and the standard solutions and were expressed in ng/ml.

F. Vitamin B12 (HPLC) analysis:

Vitamin B12 was analyzed according to Piao et al. (2004) with some modifications as described in the following steps Fl and F2. Vitamin B12 determination was done with HPLC after its extraction from the cells and its conversion into cyanocobalamin.

Fl. Sample preparation:

20 ml fermentation sample - as obtained in the above step C - were centrifuged (10 '000 x g, 15 min; Biofuge Primo Heraeus) and the pellet was washed with a 0.2 M potassium phosphate buffer (pH 5.5), centrifuged, and resuspended in 1 ml of 0.2 M potassium phosphate buffer (pH 5.5) containing 0.1 % potassium cyanide. The samples were "vortexed" (shaked) and autoclaved (121 ⁰ C, 15 min) . After autoclaving, they were "vortexed" again and centrifuged (10 ¹ OOO x g, 15 min; Biofuge Primo Her ^¬ aeus). The supernatant was filtrated (0.45-μm nylon mem- brane filters; Infochroma, Zug, Switzerland) into HPLC vials (Infochroma, Zug, Switzerland), sealed with alumi- num crimp caps (Infochroma, Zug, Switzerland) , and stored at a temperature of 4 ⁰ C in dark for a maximum of 4 days before HPLC analysis.

F2. HPLC:

HPLC was performed on a reversed-phase C18 column (250x4.6 mm; 5 μm particle size; Atlantis; Waters, US) with a RP C18 guard cartridge (20x4.6 mm; 5 μm particle size; Atlantis; Waters, US) on a HPLC system containing a Merck Hitachi L-7100 pump, a Merck Hitachi L-7200 autosampler with a Peltier sample cooler, a VWR Scientific Instruments column oven II plus, a Merck Hitachi L-7455 DAD Detector, and a Merck Hitachi D-7000 HPLC system manager. An acetonitrile / MiIIiQ water gradient mobile phase (Table 2) was used and UV detection was done at 358 run. Flow rate was set to 1.4 ml/min, oven temperature to 3O ⁰ C, and injection volume was 40 μl. Cyanocobalamin standards in the range of 1 to 20 μg/ml in MiIIiQ water were used. Each sample was injected twice and means were calculated. With this me- thod, the detection limit for vitamin B12 was set at 30 ng/ml fermented medium.

Table 2: Time dependent gradient of the elu- ents MiIIiQ water and acetonitrile for vitamin B12 determination using HPLC.

Time [min] MiIIiQ water [ % ] acetonitrile [ % ]

0 100 0

5 95 5

7 85 15

G. HPLC analyses of organic acids and sugars:

Cell-free supernatants of the fermentation samples - as obtained in the above step C - were thawed and 10-fold diluted in MiIIiQ water (Millipore AG, Zug, Switzerland) . The samples were directly filtrated into HPLC vials (Infochroma, Zug, Switzerland) using 0.45-μm nylon membrane filters (Infochroma, Zug, Switzerland), sealed with aluminum crimp caps (Infochroma, Zug, Switzerland) , and analyzed with HPLC.

HPLC was performed on a HPX-87H column

(300x7.8 mm; Animex; BioRad, Switzerland) with a Cation- H guard cartridge (30x4.6 mm; BioRad, Switzerland) on a HPLC system consisting of a Merck Hitachi L-7100 pump, a Merck Hitachi L-7200 autosampler with a Peltier sample cooler, a Merck Hitachi L-7360 column oven, a Merck Hitachi L-7450 DAD detector and a L-2490 RI detector, and a Merck Hitachi D-7000 HPLC system manager. As eluent 10 mM H ₂ SO ₄ in MiIIiQ water was used. Flow rate was set to 0.6 ml/min, oven temperature to 40 ⁰ C, and injection vol- ume was 40 μl. Standards were prepared in MiIIiQ water in the range of 0.24 to 6 g/1 for lactic acid, 0.04 to 1.0 g/1 for propionic acid, acetic acid, glucose and galactose, and 0.2 to 5 g/1 for lactose. Each sample was injected twice and mean values were calculated. With this method, the detection limits for the different substances in water were 0-18 g/1 lactic acid, 0.03 g/1 for each propionic acid, acetic acid, glucose and galactose, and 0.13 g/1 lactose.

H. Results

Folate yields, vitamin B12 yields, and cell counts obtained during a fermentation of L. plantarum SM39 and P. freudenreichii DF13 under anaerobic conditions for 3 days, followed by aerobic conditions for 4 days in SWP with 5 ppm cobalt chloride, 15 ppm DMBI, and 10 ppm pABA - as described in the above step C - are shown in Table 3.

Folate concentrations continuously increased from the start of fermentation to day 3. From day 3 to day 7 the daily folate concentration remained stable at an average level of 6317 ± 1281 ng/ml (Table 3) . Concerning vitamin B12, a concentration of 869 ± 524 ng/ml was reached on day 5. After addition of DMBI on day 5, vitamin B12 concentrations increased to a mean value of 1065 ± 378 ng/ml for days 6 and 7. Cell numbers increased from initially 5 and 7 Log cfu/ml for L. plantarum SM39 and P. freudenreichii DF13, respectively, to about 9.5 Log cfu/ml after 2 days of fermentation for both strains and remained stable thereafter with a bal- anced ratio. Lactose (46 ± 3 g/1 at the beginning) was completely metabolized after 3 days, concomitant with an increase in lactate. Lactate concentration reached a maximum after 2 days (5 + 1 g/1) and decreased afterwards due to consumption by Propionibacterium concomi- tant with an increase in acetate and propionate to reach 9 ± 0.1 g/1 and 21 ± 2 g/1, respectively, on day 4. Table 3: Cell counts, extracellular folate, and intracellular vitamin B12 production (Mean values and standard deviation of double determinations) .

a) average values over several days were calculated for constant cell growth / vitamin production to show the stability.

b) average daily cell counts from day 2 to 7.

c) average daily folate concentrations from day 3 to 7.

d) average daily vitamin B12 concentrations from day 6 and 7.

Example 2 (Preparation of a fermentation broth)

The same fermentation as described in Example

1 was repeated, with the exception that as inoculum a single culture of 1 % of 10 ⁷ cfu/ml L. plantarum SM39 was used instead of the co-culture. Results of Example 2

Folate concentrations continuously increased from the start of fermentation to day 3. From day 3 to day 7 the daily folate concentration remained stable at an average level of 4293 ± 193 ng/ml (Table 4) . Cell numbers increased from initially 5 Log cfu/ml for L. plantarum SM39 to about 9.6 Log cfu/ml after 3 days of fermentation and remained stable thereafter. Lactose (43 ± 1 g/1 at the beginning) was completely metabolized after 4 days, concomitant with an increase in lactate. Lactate concentration reached a maximum after 3 days (36 ± 4 g/1) , remained stable for 3 days and decreased afterwards slightly. Acetate continuously increased to a concentration of 2.4 ± 0.01 g/1 on day 7.

Table 4 : Cell counts and extracellular folate production (Mean values and standard deviation of double determinations) .

a) average values over several days were cal- culated for constant cell growth / vitamin production to show the stability.

b) average daily cell counts from day 3 to 7. c) average daily folate concentrations from day 3 to 7.

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