**2.1 Bacterial strains**

The *L. plantarum* NRRL B-4496 used in this study and the indicator strain *S. aureus* ATCC 29413 were obtained from the Food Microbiology Laboratory strain collection of the Universidad de las Americas Puebla (Puebla, Mexico). *L. plantarum* NRRL B-4496 was maintained on MRS Agar (de Man, Rogosa and Sharpe) (Difco™ BD, Sparks, Maryland) and *Staphylococcus aureus* ATCC 29413 on Trypticase soy agar (TSA, Bioxon® BD, Edo. de Mexico, Mexico), at 5 ± 1.0°C.
