Journal of Probiotics & Health
Open Access

Molecular diversity among autochthonous Lactobacillus strains in spontaneously fermented traditional Sri Lankan Mudawapu kiri from Kanthale, Sri Lanka

6^th International Conference and Exhibition on Probiotics, Functional and Baby Foods

October 02-03, 2017 London, UK

Deepthi K Gunasena and Dilumi B Wickramaratne

University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Prob Health

Abstract :

Fermented foods have acquired increasing interest in industry, consumers as well as researches in the past decades due to their nutritional value and probiotic activity that confer many health benefits in human as well as in other animals. Mudawapu kiri (curd) prepared using buffalo milk, is an ethic food which has a long history and still prefer over the industrially produced curd by many Sri Lankans. Autochthonous Lactobacilli plays a dominant role in the process of developing particular organoleptic properties in traditional fermented foods. Studies have demonstrated that spontaneously fermented food have a rich biodiversity. In the process of developing starter cultures and/or probiotic strains from autochthonous Lactobacillus strains, accurate identification of the strain is a prime necessity. Identification of Lactobacillus species is problematic when using physiological and biochemical characteristics due to the high heterogeneity of the genus. Thus, a more pragmatic approach like 16S rRNA gene sequencing is required for the complete characterization of them. Kanthale is a traditional place for preparing mudawapu kiri in Sri Lanka. Optimization of the spontaneous fermentation process in this home based product is carried out through back slopping. Samples were randomly collected and Lactobacillus strains were isolated using MRS agar medium. PCR reactions were carried out using two pairs of universal primers (27F, 800R and 518F, 1492R) annealing to two different target sequences in the 16S rRNA gene. PCR products were subjected to gene sequencing. The obtained sequences were compared to those of reference sequences held in GenBank. A similarity of 85% or greater was considered to provide identification. Four species of Lactobacilli were identified among them as Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus pentoses and Lactobacillus. delbruekii subsp. Indicus. Lactobacillus plantarum was the most abundant species with a relative abundance of a 50%.