Diversity of lactic acid bacterial in inasua fermentation

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Inasua is one of the traditional fermented fish products in Maluku, Indonesia. There are two types of inasua, i.e. with and without sap. The research aimed to study the succession of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) during fermentation and microbial composition in inasua. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sample of inasua was taken from two traditional producers in Layeni village, Ceram Island. The diversity of lactic acid bacteria was analyzed based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence. RESULTS: The succession of lactic acid bacteria was strongly influenced by the physicochemical characteristics during fermentation. Lactobacillus plantarum was found dominant in both inasuas fermentation processes. At end of fermentation, L. plantarum was still found dominant in inasua with sap while inasua without sap was dominated by Leuconostoc mesenteroides. In addition, Lactobacillus paracasei (LAB) was found only in inasua with sap. The result of Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) revealed that Lactobacillus was the dominant bacteria in inasua with sap while Staphylococcus was dominant in inasua without sap. CONCLUSION: Inasua with sap was found with higher bacterial diversity index and lower evenness and dominance indices, as well as more complex LAB succession pattern during fermentation and bacterial composition, as opposed to inasua without sap.