Molecular characterization of bacteriocin producing lactic acid bacteria from fermented food “Idli”

Bacteriocins are the metabolites produced by lactic acid bacteria having antimicrobial activity thus, with a tremendous potential as a biopreservative agent for processed food. In this study, bacteriocinogenic LAB were isolated from the fermented food, “Idli”. Morphological and biochemical analyses of these isolates were done by the traditional methods. The isolates (10) were able to produce bacteriocin whose antibacterial activity was analyzed by agar well diffusion assay test against indicator organisms. The antibacterial protein (bacteriocin) was characterized based on the sensitivity to heat, pH, chloroform, NaCl and incubation time. It was observed that 1% NaCl enhanced the bacteriocin production of all the bacteriocin positive isolates. The bacteriocins produced by the lactic acid bacteria isolated in this work could act as a good source to inhibit the growth of spoilage bacteria and foodborne pathogens.