Isolation and characterization of lactic acid bacteria from suan-tsai (fermented mustard), a traditional fermented food in Taiwan

Abstract

Aims: To isolate, characterize, and identify lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in suan‐tsai (fermented mustard), a traditional fermented food in Taiwan. Methods and Results: Suan‐tsai samples were collected at five time points from a fixed fermenting bucket. Fifty cultures were isolated from suan‐tsai samples, and isolates were divided into classes by phenotype and then into groups by restriction‐fragment length polymorphism analysis and sequencing of 16S ribosomal DNA. Phenotypic and biochemical characteristics identified two different bacterial groups (A and B), and the results showed that Pediococcus pentosaceus was the most abundant LAB during the initial fermentation time. However, the more NaCl‐tolerant species Tetragenococcus halophilus took the place of P. pentosaceus and became the most abundant LAB later. All isolates were grown in de Man, Rogosa, and Sharpe (MRS) broth containing 6% NaCl, but T. halophilus could grow only in MRS broth containing 10% NaCl. Conclusions: These results suggest that the LAB P. pentosaceus and T. halophilus play roles in the fermentation of suan‐tsai. Significance and Impact of the Study: This is the first report describing the distribution and varieties of LAB that exist in the suan‐tsai fermentation process.

Lactic acid bacteria in traditional fermented Chinese foods

“…Various LAB have been found in different kinds of Suan-tsai products. Chen and co-workers have isolated Pediococcus pentosaceus and Tetragenococcus halophilus from suan-tsai using mustard as the raw material (Chen, Yanagida, & Hsu, 2006). Chao and colleagues identified 18 species of LAB by 16S rRNA gene sequencing (Chao, Wu, Watanabe, & Tsai, 2009).…”

Characterization of Tetragenococcus strains from sugar thick juice reveals a novel species, Tetragenococcus osmophilus sp. nov., and divides Tetragenococcus halophilus into two subspecies, T. halophilus subsp. halophilus subsp. nov. and T. halophilus subsp. flandriensis subsp. nov.

“…Strains of this species were isolated from habitats rich in salt and proteins such as salted anchovies (Villar et al, 1985), soy sauce mash (Röling & van Verseveld, 1996), and fermented mustard (Chen et al, 2006). In addition, the species was recently found in sugar thick juice, an intermediate product in the refining of beet sugar, where it was found to cause sugar degradation (Willems et al, 2003;Justé et al, 2008a, b).…”

Genetic and physiological diversity of Tetragenococcus halophilus strains isolated from sugar- and salt-rich environments

“…The species T. halophilus and T. muriaticus, both homofermentative lactic acid bacteria, play an important role in halophilic fermentation processes such as the production of soy sauce, soy paste, brined anchovies, fish sauce, Japanese fermented puffer fish ovaries, Indonesian 'terasi' shrimp paste and fermented mustard (Ito et al, 1985;Villar et al, 1985;Röling et al, 1994;Röling & van Verseveld, 1996;Kobayashi et al, 2000Kobayashi et al, , 2003Thongsant et al, 2002;Chen et al, 2006). However, recently, Willems et al (2003) detected T. halophilus in concentrated sugar thick juice, an intermediate in the production of beet sugar.…”