Adhirasam is a cereal based, doughnut shaped, deep fried dessert
consumed in the southern regions of India. The dough used to prepare
adhirasam is fermented and contains rice flour and jaggery. The
aim of the present study was to characterize the cultivable bacteria associated with
this fermented dough and to identify a suitable starter culture for the production of
quality adhirasam. In total, one hundred and seventy bacterial
isolates were recovered from de Man Rogosa Sharp (MRS) agar, nutrient agar, lysogeny
agar and tryptic soy agar media. Out of the 170 bacterial isolates, sixteen isolates
were selected based on their ability to tolerate glucose and sucrose. All the
bacterial isolates tolerated 15% glucose and 30% sucrose. Analyses of 16S rDNA gene
sequences of the bacterial isolates showed that the dominant cultivable bacteria were
members of the genus Bacillus. These strains were further used as
starters and tested for their ability to ferment rice flour with jaggery to produce
adhirasam dough. Organoleptic evaluation was carried out to
choose the best starter strain. Adhirasam prepared from
Bacillus subtilis isolates S4-P11, S2-G2-A1 and S1-G15,
Bacillus tequilensis isolates S2-H16, S3-P9, S3-G10 and
Bacillus siamensis isolate S2-G13 were highly acceptable to
consumers. Adhirasam prepared using these starter cultures had
superior product characteristics such as softness in texture, flavor and enhanced
aroma and sweet taste.