Plantaricin C, a bacteriocin synthesized by Lactobacillus plantarum LL441, was optimally produced in chemostats kept at pH 5.0, 30°C, 150 rpm, and a dilution rate of 0.05 h1 when glucose was used as carbon source and a dilution rate of 0.10 to 0.12 h1 when sucrose or fructose was used instead. Production was abolished at high dilution rates, i.e., when the cells grew rapidly in all carbon sourcesThis work was supported by grants ALI93-0873-CO2 and BIOT-CT96-0402 from the Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología of Spain and the BIOTECH Program of the European Union, respectively. F.S. was the recipient of a visitor's grant from the University of Oviedo.Peer reviewed