The Isolation, Characterization, and Identification of Endophytic Bacteria from Pineapple Peel (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr)

Endophytic bacteria are microorganisms found in a plant and have a variety of activities. Endophytic bacteria can produce almost the same compounds as their host plants. Pineapple (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr) is one of the plants that has many benefits. Pineapple peel contains bioactive compounds that can be used as antioxidants, immunomodulators, and antibacterials. This study aims to isolate and characterize endophytic bacteria from pineapple peels, determine the time required for endophytic bacteria isolated from pineapple peels to grow optimally, and identify bacterial species that have the most optimal growth. Isolation and purification of endophytic bacteria were carried out to obtain pure isolates. Optical Density (OD) measurements were used to determine the growth time of the bacteria and molecular testing was carried out to identify the species of endophytic bacteria found in pineapple peels. Based on the isolation that has been done, four pure isolates of endophytic bacteria from pineapple peel were coded as N1, N2, N3, and N4. The four isolates obtained were then observed macroscopically for their characteristics. Furthermore, Optical Density (OD) measurements were carried out and the best growth was obtained in isolated N4 in the 36th hour. Isolate N4 was then identified molecularly with steps of isolation, DNA amplification, sequencing, and bioinformatics analysis. Based on the identification results, N4 is Enterobacter hormaechei bacterial species.