The lower concentration of acetic acid in the co-culture fermentation than in L.eu1426 fermentation indicated that there could be a slight inhibition of heterofermentative features of L.eu1426 in the co-culture fermentation. Theoretically, ethanol is a
metabolic product of Leu. mesenteroides via 6p-gluconate pathway.
However, we found a little bit of ethanol in this study, potentially due to the generation of ethanol was dependent on the oxidationreduction potential of the system (Johnson & Mccleskey, 1957;Kandler, 1983).