## 3 Results  
### In Vitro Assessment of Probiotic Characteristics of L. plantarum CNTA 628  
For the identification of \(L\). _plantarum_ CNTA 628, all genomes identified as _Lactiplantiobacillus plantarum_ in the NCBI GenBank database (\(n=594\)) were retrieved. Subsequently, the Average Nucleotide Identity (ANI) index was computed between these genomes and the genome of the _Lactiplantiobacillus_ sp. CNTA 628 strain, demonstrating that our strain belongs to the species \(L\). _plantarum_ (Table S1). Moreover, the ANI value between the genome of strain CNTA 628 and the type strain genome of \(L\). _plantarum_ exceeds 96% (the threshold for species delineation, Table S2). Thus, the entire genomic sequence of \(L\). _plantarum_ CNTA 628 has been recorded in the NCBI database under the reference number JBONTP000000000.1. Once identified, the first step in the in vitro characterization of a probiotic strain was to determine its growth parameters in MRS medium using the plate count method. Figure 1 shows how the Gompertz model fits the experimental values of the growth curve of \(L\). _plantarum_ in MRS broth at 37 \({}^{\circ}\)C. Figure 1 illustrates the alignment of the Gompertz model with the experimental data of the growth curve over the incubation period of the \(L\). _plantarum_ bacterial population in MRS broth at 37 \({}^{\circ}\)C.  
Table S3 confirms the adequacy of the growth parameters, with a correlation coefficient (R) of 0.98 and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.16. We also analyzed whether _L. plantarum_ CNTA 628 is able to resist gastric and intestinal conditions. In this in vitro assay, we observed that our strain exhibited resistance to simulated gastric fluid, as it retained viability after 2 h, and the viable counts showed a decrease of less than 1 log cycle with respect to the initial cell concentration (Figure 2). Notably, the probiotic exhibited strong survival ability after 2 h of exposure to simulated intestinal fluid, maintaining a cell population of 7 log CFU/mL, which indicates its resistance to both simulated gastric and intestinal fluids. Then, we evaluated the potential resistance to antibiotics for _L. plantarum_ CNTA 628 by the broth microdilution method. _L. plantarum_ CNTA 628 was susceptible to all antibiotics tested (Table 1). Figure 1: Growth curve of _L. plantarum_ CNTA 628 through the incubation time at 37 \({}^{\circ}\)C in MRS broth. Experimental values and estimation with the Gompertz model. Figure 2: Tolerance of _L. plantarum_ CNTA 628 to gastric and intestinal fluids. Moreover, the SCFAs produced by _L. plantarum_ CNTA 628 in different culture media were analyzed using GC-MS (Table 2). Thus, _L. plantarum_ CNTA 628 was capable of producing acetic acid (in culture media with FOS and without adding a carbon source). The SCFAs propionic, butyric, caloric, and isobutyric acids were not quantified in any medium. Other probiotic properties were evaluated for _L. plantarum_ CNTA 628, including the ability to produce \(\beta\)-galactosidase throughout an in vitro test. This analysis demonstrated that _L. plantarum_ CNTA 628 is able to break down the disaccharide lactose into glucose and galactose (Figure S1). Furthermore, we determined the bile salt hydrolase (BSH) activity of this strain using a qualitative direct plate assay. Visible halos surrounding the colonies and white precipitates with the colonies were observed when _L. plantarum_ CNTA 628 was cultured on an MRS agar plate supplemented with tauro-conjugated bile salts. However, this strain produced similar colony types on plates with or without glyco-conjugated bile salts (Figure 3). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline
**Medium** & **Acetic Acid** \\ \hline Defined medium without adding carbon source & 523.15 \(\pm\) 54.57 \\ \hline Defined medium with glucose (2\%) & not detected \\ \hline Defined medium with Synergy 1 (2\%) & 500.50 \(\pm\) 54.11 \\ \hline Defined medium with P95 (2\%) & 866.26 \(\pm\) 62.21 \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Measurements of SCFA production (\(\mu\)g/mL) by _L.