Citation: Akmal, U.; Ghori, I.; Elasbali, A.M.; Alharbi, B.; Farid, A.; Alamri, A.S.; Muzammal, M.; Asdaq, S.M.B.; Naiel, M.A.E.; Ghazanfar, S. Probiotic and Antioxidant Potential of the Lactobacillus Spp. Isolated from Artisanal Fermented Pickles. Fermentation 2022, 8, 328. https://doi.org/10.3390/ fermentation8070328 Academic Editors: Michela Verni and Carlo Giuseppe Rizzello Received: 6 May 2022 Accepted: 5 July 2022 Published: 13 July 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). fermentation Article Probiotic and Antioxidant Potential of the Lactobacillus Spp. Isolated from Artisanal Fermented Pickles Urva Akmal 1 , Ifra Ghori 1, *, Abdelbaset Mohamed Elasbali 2, * , Bandar Alharbi 3 , Arshad Farid 4 , Abdulhakeem S. Alamri 5,6 , Muhammad Muzammal 4 , Syed Mohammed Basheeruddin Asdaq 7 , Mohammed A. E. Naiel 8 and Shakira Ghazanfar 9, * 1 Department of Biotechnology, Fatima Jinnah Women University Rawalpindi, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan; urvaakmal4@gmail.com 2 Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Applied Sciences-Qurayyat, Jouf University, Sakaka 72388, Saudi Arabia 3 Department of Medical Laboratory, College of Applied Medical Science, University of Hail, Hail 55476, Saudi Arabia; b.alharbi@uoh.edu.sa 4 Gomal Center of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan 29050, Pakistan; arshadfarid@gu.edu.pk (A.F.); mustafamuzammal1@yahoo.com (M.M.) 5 Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, The Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Taif University, Taif 26521, Saudi Arabia; a.alamri@tu.edu.sa 6 Deanship of Scientific Research, Centre of Biomedical Sciences Research (CBSR), Taif University, Taif 26521, Saudi Arabia 7 Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, AlMaarefa University, Dariyah, Riyadh 13713, Saudi Arabia; sasdag@mcst.edu.sa 8 Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt; mohammednaiel.1984@gmail.com 9 National Institute for Genomics and Advanced Biotechnology, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad 45500, Pakistan * Correspondence: ifraghori@fjwu.edu.pk (I.G.); aeelasbali@ju.edu.sa (A.M.E.); shakira_akmal@yahoo.com (S.G.) Abstract: The present study was based on bacterial isolation with probiotic potential from artisanal fermented pickles. A total of 36 bacterial strains were isolated from 50 different artisanal fermented pickle samples. Nine isolates with promising probiotic potential (PCR99, PCR100, PCR118, PCR119, PCR121, PCR125, PCR137, PCR140 and PCR141) were selected. The strains showed varied protease, amylase, lipase and cellulase patterns. The isolated strains displayed varied responses towards various antibiotic classes, i.e., PCR140 showed resistance to penicillin G, polymyxin B, Metronidazole and Streptomycin. PCR140 showed highest resistance to bile salt concentrations (0.3% and 0.5%) and acidic conditions (pH 3 and pH 4) when exposed to mimicked gastrointestinal conditions. The cell viability against enzymes produced in stomach and intestines showed different patterns as pepsin was in the range of 94.32–91.22%, pancreatic resistance 97.32–93.11% and lysozyme resistance was detected at 99.12–92.55%. Furthermore, the auto-aggregation capability of isolated strains was in the range of 46.11–33.33% and cell surface hydrophobicity was in the range of 36.55–31.33%. PCR 140 showed maximum antioxidant activity in lyophilized cells as well as probiotic potential. A phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing confirmed that PCR140 (NMCC91) with higher in vitro probiotic and antioxidant potential belongs to the genus Lactobacillus with 97% similarity with Lacticaseibacillus paracasei. This work demonstrated that the isolate PCR 140 (NMCC91) is suitable for use in food and medical industries. Keywords: pickles; probiotics; lactic acid bacteria; Lactobacillus; probiotic property; enzymatic potentials 1. Introduction Food fermentation has traditionally been associated with a myriad of cultures since antiquity. The outcomes of this centuries-old practice are better food storage, improved Fermentation 2022, 8, 328. https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation8070328 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/fermentation