Isolation and Identification of Lactic Acid Bacteria from Traditional Fermented Products of Visayas and Mindanao

Abstract

Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) are one of the most important groups of bacteria because of their significant role as probiotics that have protective roles in the human body. In addition to this, they also function as fermenters which have a great impact on the food industry. Because of this, LAB have continuously been gaining attention in the present day urging researchers in the constant isolation and identification of these organisms. This study isolated and identified LAB from traditionally fermented wine and vinegar of Visayas and Mindanao. Six of the nine putative LAB were confirmed via Catalase test and Gram staining. Using the API 50 CHL identification kit (BioMerieux), five were found to be Lactobacillus paracasei ssp paracasei 2 and one was identified as Lactobacillus brevis. All of the six LAB isolate showed inhibitory activity against three test organisms: Enteroccocus faecium 79. Listeria innocua and Staphyloccocus aureus 1526. This study shows that LAB isolated from wine and vinegar of the Visayas and Mindanao regions contain potentially probiotic LAB which can benefit health and can possibly be conferred to human hosts.