ISSN: 2476-2059
Beatrice Aleyo Akweya*, Joseph Mwafaida Mghalu, Rahma Udu M. Yusuf, Tochi Bitange
Cereal grains are considered as effective substrates for the production of probiotics which can be incorporated in functional foods. The natural presence of lactic acid bacteria in cereals is of great interest in producing fermented cereal products. This study aimed at biochemically characterizing probiotic potential Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) involved during the spontaneous fermentation of cereals (maize, sorghum and millet). The isolates were screened for growth at extreme conditions in MRS media. The temperature tested were 15℃, 37℃, 45℃ and 55℃, the concentration of Sodium chloride (NaCl) tested were 2%, 4%, 7.5% and 10% (w/v), while the pH tested were 1.5, 2, 4 and 6. MAPU01, SM01, SMPU02 and SGPU02 survived a temperature of 45℃, five isolates were able to withstand salt concentration of 7.5% while only one at 10%. MAPU01 (Lactobacillus spp), SMPU01 (Lactococcus spp) and SGPU02 (Lactococcus spp) are possible thermophiles and can survive at low pH and moderate high salt concentration.