Lactobacillus brevis

Lactobacillus brevis is a lactic-acid bacterium that ferments sugars. It is heterofermentative: as well as lactic acid, it diverts part of the carbon from sugars into other products such as acetic acid.^[3]

In 2020 a whole-genome study split the genus Lactobacillus into 25 genera, and this species moved to the new genus Levilactobacillus. Its current correct name is Levilactobacillus brevis; Lactobacillus brevis is the older name for the same species.^[1],[2]

Levilactobacillus brevis is described as autochthonous — naturally resident — in cucumber fermentations: it co-exists with another lactic-acid bacterium, Lactiplantibacillus pentosus, in commercial-scale brined cucumbers. Strains have also been isolated from other sources:^[3]

Species of Lactobacillus (in the older, broad sense that included L. brevis) and Bifidobacterium are the most commonly used probiotics in human medicine. In food science, L. brevis is also of interest as a starter or adjunct culture for vegetable fermentation, where its heterofermentative metabolism can influence flavour and texture.^[4],[3]

Probiotic benefits are generally considered strain-specific, so findings for one strain of a species do not automatically apply to another.^[5]

The label lists the strain in the Live Culture Blend — five strains that together provide 2 billion CFU per tablet. The label states that total for the whole blend only; it does not give a separate CFU count for each strain, so we don’t either. On the DIGEST+ label it appears under its long-established name, Lactobacillus brevis.