MYANMAR POPULAR PLANT-BASED FERMENTED FOODS, THEIR PROCESSING, AND THEIR MICROORGANISMS POTENTIAL FOR PROBIOTICS

Abstract

For traditional processing, six Myanmar popular plant-based fermented foods were investigated. Additionally, chemical and microbiological investigations of fermented foods from local markets were conducted, followed by the isolation of potential probiotic bacteria from these foods. All of the fermented foods investigated were found to be processed by natural spontaneous fermentation accomplished by adding rice water, rice juice, and salt. The total acidity of the fermented foods examined ranged from 0.57 ± 0.04 to 1.42 ± 0.06 g/100g of sample, while the pH ranged from 3.32 ± 0.18 to 4.44  ± 0.11. Aerobic bacteria count was between 7 and 9 log CFU/g, while lactobacilli count was between 6.63 ± 0.03 and 8.72 ± 0.10 log CFU/g. After 2 hours of incubation, six isolates demonstrated a survival rate of between 34.06 ± 6.68 percent and 72.38 ± 13.20 percent at pH 2.0, and between 55.73 ± 2.29 percent and 88.35 ± 7.42 percent in 0.3 percent in bile salt solution after 4 hours of incubation. Six isolates were identified based on sequencing results:three Lactobacillus helveticus, two Leuconostoc lactis, and one Leuconostoc mesenteroides. This study could help develop probiotics from Myanmar fermented foods and learn more about how Myanmar fermented foods are processed.