Fig. 1.

Biosorption assays for heavy metals with various lactic acid bacteria (LAB).

LAB strains (1.5 × 10⁸ cells/mL) were suspended in 1 µg/mL of the metal solutions. The bacterial suspensions were incubated at 37°C for 1 hr. After incubation, the bacterial cells were removed, and the heavy metal concentrations were measured using ICP-MS. Differences in mean values were assessed using the Tukey honest significant difference (HSD) multiple comparison procedure. Different letters indicate significant differences for each group (p<0.05).