Isolation of Probiotic Bacteria from Rice, Molecular Identification and Preparation of Probiotic Based Rice Milk -Shelf Life and Nutritional Analysis

Probiotic bacteria are beneficial organisms present in our small intestine, to regulate important functions in our body. Poor eating habits, consumption of chlorinated drinking water, stress and certain disease conditions, consumption of alcohol and the use of antibiotics are known to alter the composition and activities of gut flora. Probiotics might help our body’s normal microbiota return to a healthy condition after being disturbed. A healthy gut microbiome can boost our overall immunity. This study focuses on the isolation and characterization of probiotic bacteria from rice (Oryzasativa) and preparation of probiotic based rice milk. The probiotic bacterium was isolated from matta rice. Characters like NaCl tolerance, bile salt tolerance test were performed. The probiotic strain was identified to be Weissellacibaria by 16srRNA sequencing. Thin layer chromatography, Bio autography, UV-Visible spectrophotometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was carried out to identify the antimicrobial compounds in the sample. Antibacterial study and Antifungal study were performed by agar well diffusion method to evaluate the bacterial inhibition efficacy. The nutrient analysis of probiotic based rice milk were estimated by protein estimation, carbohydrate test, total phenolic content, pH, moisture and ash content estimation. Results of the test were graphically represented. Microbial load of the samples were also studied during different stages of shelf life. The study shows overall improvement in quality of rice milk in its nutritional functionality.Antimicrobial efficiency of the probiotic bacteria was also indicated. The results from the study suggested that Weissellacibaria has exemplary technological properties that can be implemented in the pharmaceutical and food industry.