The L. casei was cultured for 18 h in sterile MRS broth (1%, w/v)
at 37 °C. This culture was sub-cultured (37 °C, 18 h) twice in the same broth to activate bacteria and to allow them to adapt.
All the inoculation works were carried out under sterile biological
hoods with laminar air flow (Auramini, Laftech,
Melbourne, Australia)