EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL PROBIOTIC CHARACTERS OF LACTOBACILLUS FERMENTUM

Abstract

The present study aims to evaluate the probiotic potential characters isolated from palm wine and different fermented foods. The strains isolated from palm wine and sourdough were Lactobacillus fermentum and from cucumber was Pediococcus acidilactici which exhibited potential probiotic characters when tested in vivo. L. fermentum isolated from palm wine exhibited equal tolerance with strains isolated from sourdough and cucumber. Results presented in this study revealed that L. fermentum from palm wine could withstand the harsh conditions in the gastro-intestinal tract by tolerating the low pH, bile salts, 0.5 % pancreatin and 0.2 % phenol in vitro conditions. The potential probiotic characters exhibited by L. fermentum can be further investigated in vivo and in vitro studies to elucidate the health benefits and assess technological performance as novel starters. Along with sourdough and fermented cucumber, palm wine was a good source for the isolation of prominent probiotic strains for the application at industry level.

Keywords

• antibiotic resistance
• bile tolerance
• hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA)
• Lactobacillus fermentum
• low pH tolerance
• palm wine