Impact of Lactobacillus strains on free fatty acid profile in coconut neera

Coconut neera has been reported as a potential candidate for the development of a new probiotic beverage by inoculating it with Lactobacillus casei AP and Lactobacillus plantarum. This study aimed to determine the impact of L. casei AP and L. plantarum on the free fatty acid (FFA) content in inoculated coconut neera. The FFA were analyzed using gaschromatography mass spectroscopy, and the biosynthetic pathways of stearic acid were elucidated by conducting a whole-genome BLAST search against seven databases. Palmitic acid was found to be the predominant fatty acid in coconut neera, constituting 49.85% of the total fatty acids. Inoculation of coconut neera with L. casei AP and L. plantarum resulted in a significant decrease in palmitic acid and an increase in stearic acid levels, reaching 8.93% and 3.42%, respectively. Both L. casei AP and L. plantarum utilized the fatty acid biosynthesis pathway of type 2 fatty acid synthase (FASII) to produce stearic acid. However, neither of them was able to synthesize conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) components in coconut neera. Consequently, neera fermented by L. plantarum and L. casei AP may have a more pronounced impact on the FFA profile compared to non-fermented neera.