Pigments from Halophilic Bacteria Isolated from Salty Fermented Foods, Bioactivity and Safety for Further Development as Bio/Natural-Food Additives

Abstract

Pigments producing strains Halobacillus yeomjeoni(81-1) Salinicoccus sp. (82-1) Bacillus infantis (63-11) Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (60-5) and Staphylococcus carnosus (48-10) were isolated from salty fermented foods. As per FTIR analysis, IR spectrum of pigment from each isolate were similar to IR spectrum of xanthophyll as previously reported. This study concluded that the pigments generated from these different halophilic strains with different color shade were all derivatives of carotenoid. Dominant bacterial pigments of these strains analyzed by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) compared to standard reagent included lycopene, lutein and β-carotene. Antimicrobial assays of crude pigment extract of 81-1 isolate exhibited highest inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus, while 82-1 and 60-5 isolates best inhibited Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus, respectively. DPPH assay of 60-5 isolate demonstrated significantly higher antioxidant activity as compared to others crude pigments. Furthermore, virulence analysis of strains depicted no key biogenic amine genes and no hemolytic activity in any of the isolates.

Keywords

• halophilic bacteria
• bacterial pigment
• carotenoid profiles
• safety analysis