MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION AND DETERMINATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL POTENTIAL OF PROBIOTIC BACTERIA ISOLATED FROM TRADITIONAL DAIRY AND COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS

The objective of the present study was to isolate, identify, and characterize probiotic Lactic acid bacterial strains from traditional dairy and commercial products and determine their antagonistic activity against pathogenic bacteria. Fifty-five lactic acid bacterial (LAB) strains were isolated, and fifteen strains were selected based on probiotic potential after that antimicrobial activity was measured against bacterial pathogens. Among fifteen isolates, five isolates showed good (above 15 mm zone) antimicrobial activities against the tested pathogenic strains of humans. After the preliminary antimicrobial activity, the best five isolates were selected for the production of different antibacterial compounds such as bacteriocin, hydrogen peroxide, and organic acid. Two isolates showed bacteriocin production and one isolate gave maximum bacteriocin activity against most pathogens and was further identified as Enterococcus faecalis JY32 using 16 S rRNA sequencing. The study reveals that in comparison to commercial products, traditional products of dairy could be an alternative and readily available resource for probiotic bacteria with interesting functional characteristics.