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Polyphasic taxonomic
characterization of lactic acid bacteria isolated from
spontaneous sorghum fermentations used to produce ting,
a traditional South African food
Evelyn Madoroba1, Emma T. Steenkamp2,
Jacques Theron1, Geert Huys3, Ilse
Scheirlinck3 and T. Eugene Cloete1*
1Department
of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, University of Pretoria,
Pretoria 0002, South Africa.
2Forestry
and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), Department
of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, University of Pretoria,
Pretoria 0002, South Africa.
3Laboratory
of Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, K.L.
Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Gent, Belgium.
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
eugene.cloete@up.ac.za.
Tel:
0027 12 4203265.Fax: 0027 12 4203266.
Accepted
19 November, 2008 |
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Ting, an indigenous cooked fermented food made from sorghum flour, is
consumed extensively in South Africa. Due to the spontaneous
nature of the sorghum fermentation considerable variations
in the sensory and microbial quality of the end-product may
occur, thus hampering large-scale production of this food. The
use of starter cultures purified from the fermented sorghum
may be an alternative approach to obtain ting of
consistent quality. The aim of this study was therefore to
identify the
lactic acid bacteria (LAB) associated with ting
fermentation using a polyphasic approach. Phenotypic
characterization and sequence analysis
of the
genes encoding the 16S subunit of the ribosomal RNA (rrs)
and phenylalanyl tRNA synthase (pheS) were used.
The results of these analyses showed that ting
fermentation involved at least three different species of
LAB, i.e. Lactobacillus fermentum, L.
plantarum and L. rhamnosus. To our
knowledge, this is the first report of polyphasic taxonomic
characterization of LAB from this food. This research
forms an
essential first step towards the development of relevant
starter cultures to produce ting of consistent
quality.
Key
words:
lactic acid bacteria, polyphasic taxonomy, sorghum
fermentation, ting, pheS. |
