Diversity of probiotic microorganisms in some traditional fermented foods of Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

newline Probiotic potential of 102 bacterial and 24 yeast isolates (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) of tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh was studied. On the basis of in vitro tests, such as antagonistic spectrum, tolerance to simulated gastrointestinal juices, ox bile and hydrophobicity property, eleven bacterial isolates were finally selected. The native bacterial isolates produced bacteriocin like inhibitory substances as antagonistic substance. The indigenous isolates were further screened for probiotic potential on the basis of attributes such as hydrogen peroxide, organic acid production, autoaggregation, bile salt deconjugation, bile salt hydrolase, and#946;-galactosidase enzyme, antioxidative activity, exopolysaccharide production and cholesterol reduction (in presence of different bile salts). The bacterial isolates were identified by using traditional and molecular techniques (genus/species specific primers and 16S ribosomal gene sequence analysis). Ten ribosomal nucleotide sequences of isolated bacteria were allotted NCBI Genbank accession numbers. The eleven native bacterial isolates were identified as Enterococcus faecium (AdF1, AdF2, AdF3 and AdF11), Bacillus coagulans (AdF4), Lactobacillus plantarum (AdF5, AdF6 and AdF10) and Lactobacillus fermentum (AdF7, AdF8 and AdF9) on the basis of molecular characterization