In this studywe showthat biofilm formation by L. plantarum is strongly
affected by the type of growthmedium, temperature and by strain specific
features. Themeat based medium BHI supplementedwith additional
glucose and Mn(II), provided optimum conditions for the tested strains to
formdense biofilms asmeasured by CV staining and was superior toMRS
mediumwhich is routinely used for L. plantarum cultivation in laboratory
experiments. Twomedia of plant origin (mTSB and AOAC) were evaluated.
AOAC medium is tomato based and mimics a tomato-based food matrix.
Most of the strains showed capacity to form dense biofilms in the
meat based medium, however also media of plant origin supported biofilm
formation. The fact that biofilm formation is supported by a diverse
range of media with different nutrient composition suggests that
L. plantarum biofilm formation may occur in food processing environments
posing risks for recontamination of food products.