Maintenance and cultivation of the culture
The bacterial culture was revived on MRS (de Mann Rogosa Sharpe) broth with pH 6.2±0.2. The process of activation of the freeze dried culture was carried out on a regular basis by transferring them after every 48 h up to three generations. The culture was maintained on MRS slopes (MRS medium supplemented with 15.0 g/L agar) by subculturing, aseptically at fortnight intervals and stored at 4°C, until further use.