Growth stage
The growth stage of the probiotic culture has been observed
to influence the adhesion of probiotics significantly.
Although it is difficult to draw general conclusions, it
appears that log phase cells are more adhesive than early
stationary phase cells (47, 75). The mechanism behind this
loss of adhesive capacity is currently not known. However,
it may have important practical implications, as in some
applications probiotics will be grown until the early
stationary phase, to obtain the highest biomass yield. In
fermented products the microorganisms may be in the late
stationary phase, depending on the shelf-life. Thus it may be
more relevant to investigate adhesion of stationary phase
probiotics.