Screening and Characterization of Lactobacillus sp. from the Water of Cassava’s Fermentation for Selection as Probiotics

ABSTRACT

The present study aimed to evaluate selected probiotic properties of Lactobacilli isolated from the water of submerged cassava fermentation. Following Lactobacilli isolation, isolates were screened for their antimicrobial activity. Acid and bile tolerances, bile salt hydrolase (Bsh) activity spectrum were assessed. Among the 113 isolates obtained, 16 showed a broad antimicrobial activity spectrum against the indicator microorganisms. From these 16, 12 were found acid and bile resistant. They hydrolyzed glycoconjugated or tauroconjugated bile salts. From the four bile Bsh genes screened, only Bsh-Lp1 was found in five isolates. They identified as Lactobacillus paraplantarum, Lactobacillus paracasei, Lactobacillus brevis, and Lactobacillus plantarum. Based on the principal component analysis, L. paracasei 62L, L. plantarum 85L and 86L were selected as the most promising strains. These results suggest that water from submerged cassava fermentation can be a source of Lactobacilli with high probiotic potential.

KEYWORDS:

• Antimicrobial activities
• bile salts hydrolase
• cassava fermentation
• Lactobacillus
• probiotic properties

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the assistance and technical support of the CAS-TWAS Centre of Excellence for Biotechnology (CoEBI0) researchers.

Supplementary information

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by Chinese Academy of Sciences Visiting President’s International Fellowship Initiative [Grant No. 2015VBB051].