Molecular Identification of Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Fermented Coconut Yoghurt through Uncontrolled Fermentation

This study aimed to identify and characterize Lactic Acid Bacteria obtained from uncontrolledfermentation of coconut milk using molecular biology tools. Healthy coconut fruit wasaseptically processed to obtain the milk which was afterwards allowed to ferment spontaneouslyunder laboratory condition. Using standard microbiological methods Lactic Acid Bacteria(LAB) were isolated from the fermenting milk during fermentation. The LAB isolates weresubjected to presumptive tests and subsequently to molecular analyses to confirm theiridentities. Genomic DNA of each LAB was extracted using commercial kits, 16S rRNA geneof the extracted DNA was amplified by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and the productsequenced by Sanger method. Similarity and phylogenetic relationship of the resultingsequences with reference strains’ sequences in National Centre for Biotechnology Informationdatabase were compared using BLAST. Isolated Lactic Acid Bacteria were identified asLactobacillus acidophilus, Limosilactobacillus reuteri, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, andLactococcus lactis, with each exhibiting 100.00% homology to 16SrRNA gene sequence ofreference strains. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of the selective isolation methodand highlights the potential benefits of LAB in developing a non-dairy yoghurt from coconutmilk. Further research is recommended to the use of these LAB isolates as starters for controlledfermentation of coconut milk to develop various fermented foods from this process. Also, theprobiotic properties and functional characteristics of the isolated LAB species could be furtherexplored.