The use of probiotics for human and animal health is continuously increasing. The probiotics used in humans commonly come from dairy foods, whereas the sources of probiotics used in animals are often the animals’ own digestive tracts. Increasingly, probiotics from sources other than milk products are being selected for use in people who are lactose intolerant. These sources are non-dairy fermented foods and beverages, non-dairy and non-fermented foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, feces of breast-fed infants and human breast milk. The probiotics that are used in both humans and animals are selected in stages; after the initial isolation of the appropriate culture medium, the probiotics must meet important qualifications, including being non-pathogenic acid and bile-tolerant strains that possess the ability to act against pathogens in the gastrointestinal tract and the safety-enhancing property of not being able to transfer any antibiotic resistance genes to other bacteria. The final stages of selection involve the accurate identification of the probiotic species.

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Probiotic isolates from unconventional sources: a review

Budu is a famous Malaysian fish sauce, usually used as seasoning and condiment in cooking. Budu is produced by mixing fish and salt at certain ratio followed by fermentation for six months in closed tanks. In this study, four commercial brands of Budu were analyzed for their chemical properties (pH, salt content and volatile compounds). The pH of Budu samples ranged from 4.50-4.92, while the salt (NaCl) content ranged between 11.80% and 22.50% (w/v). For tentative identification of volatile flavor compounds in Budu, two GC columns have been used, DB-WAX and HP-5MS. A total of 44 volatile compounds have been detected and 16 were common for both columns. 3-Methyl-1-butanol, 2-methylbutanal, 3-methylbutanal, dimethyl disulfide, 3-(methylthio)-propanal, 3-methylbutanoic acid and benzaldehye have been identified as the aroma-active compounds in Budu due to their lower threshold values.

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Tentative identification of volatile flavor compounds in commercial Budu, a Malaysian fish sauce, using GC-MS.

BACKGROUND

Fermented fish products, commonly consumed in south-east Asia, are used as condiments that contribute to people's nutritional sources and as seasonings to improve food taste and flavour. Among these, the Cambodian products prahok (fish paste), kapi (shrimp paste) and toeuk trey (fish sauce) have not been examined in detail. This is the first study to investigate their chemical and microbial properties.



RESULTS

Acetic acid was the most common organic acid with the highest concentration in 10/13 samples (1.9–26.6 g kg−1). Lactic acid was also found at high concentrations (0.4–12.9 g kg−1). 16S ribosomal RNA gene-dependent phylogenetic analyses indicated that Gram-positive cocci and rods, such as Bacillus, Clostridium, Staphylococcus and Tetragenococcus, were the major microbial populations. High sodium chloride concentrations detected in these products (170–270 g kg−1) could be responsible for inhibition of the growth of Gram-negative putrefactive microorganisms.



CONCLUSION

This study established a relationship between the chemical and microbial compositions of Cambodian fermented fish products, which provides a basis for preservation and maturation. These data could be beneficial in the manufacturing of these products in terms of microbial control and quality stabilisation. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry

Microbial and chemical properties of Cambodian traditional fermented fish products.

Overview of Molecular Typing Tools for The Characterization of Salmonella enterica in Malaysia.

This study was conducted to isolate antagonistic and biotechnologically potent bacteria from environment. Micrococcus luteus was the only bacterium found producing antimicrobial metabolites and exhibited good probiotic characteristics. Micrococcus luteus showed antibacterial activity against foodborne pathogens, Salmonella typhimurium (16-20 mm), Listeria monocytogenes (11-15 mm) and Escherichia coli (5-10 mm). The bacterium was also found active against Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus. It was found producing industrially important enzymes including protease, lipase and phytase, confirmed by screening with specific substrate supplementations. The bacterium was able to survive in 2% bile salt and 4% NaCl with good probiotic potential. The DPPH radical scavenging activity of the Micrococcus luteus was found 79.61±0.02%, while the total phenolic content was 200µg/mL equivalent to gallic acid.

Isolation and Characterization of Biotechnologically Potent Micrococcus luteus Strain From Environment

The aim of this study was to investigate the raw milk hygiene and quality among the dairy farmers within Sabah area. A total of 150 raw milk samples were obtained from different dairy farmers as well as at the milk collecting center (MCC) of the Sebrang Station, Keningau. The results revealed that the bacteriology quality of raw milk was poor as the total plate count was more than 10 7 CFU/ml. Both the coliform (2.96 – 4.03 log CFU/ml) and Staphylococcus counts (2.73 – 3.55 log CFU/ml) were high in all tested samples. The microbial load of the raw milk increased (p<0.05) upon reaching MCC. A total of 47 samples were tested positive for the presence of E.coli while the Staphylococcus aureus was the second prevalence pathogenic bacteria (8.3-41.6%) found in this study. Only 17 raw milks were found positive with the presence of Salmonella spp, but none of the pathogenic species of E.coli O157:H7 were detected in this study. Stepwise tracer study revealed that personal hygiene of farmers and unhygienic utensils used during milking process contributed most to the bacteriology quality of raw milk. A significant reduction on microbial count was observed after the hygienic practices were introduced to the dairy farmers. © 2011 Universal Research Publications. All rights reserved

Original Article Microbiological Quality and the Impact of Hygienic Practices on the Raw Milk Obtained from the Small-scale Dairy Farmers in Sabah, Malaysia

The study aimed to characterize the microbiological changes during fermentation of budu and hydrolytic properties of the isolated strains. The initial microbial load of the fish substrate was 5.13 ± 0.01 log CFU/g before decreased gradually to 3.20 ± 0.02 log CFU/g after 12 months of fermentation. Micrococcus sp was the predominant bacteria to initiate the fermentation before replacing by Staphylococcus sp that survived throughout the traditional process. Halophilic bacteria especially Micrococcus luteus and Staphylococcus arlettae exhibited good proteolytic and lipolytic activities compared to other isolated bacterial strains. However, most of the identified strains showed weak amylolytic and pectinolytic activity. Lactobacillus plantarum LP1, LP2, Staphylococcus arlettae SA1, Saccharomyces cerevisiae SC3 and Candida glabrata CG2 strains showed potential probiotic activities. These demonstrate that budu is a mixed cultures fermentation involving functional strains in hydrolyzing fish protein into solubilized liquid. Further study is suggested to focus on the selection of technologically important strains as starter cultures for reliable and enhanced budu fermentation.

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Microbiological characterization of , an indigenous malaysian fish sauce

This study assessed the potential of probiotic and antimicrobial activity of strains isolated from an indigenous fish sauce in Malaysia. A total of 150 isolates were evaluated for their resistance toward low pH and bile salts as well as the production of inhibitory substances against four selected foodborne pathogens namely Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli O157:H7. Lactobacillus plantarum (LP1, LP2), Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC3), Candida glabrata (CG2), Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis (LL2) and Staphylococcus arlettae (SA) strains showed resistance to low pH and bile salt at various concentrations. The LP1(86.3%), LP2 (86.2%), LL2 (84.4%) and CG2 (79.7%) strains exhibited higher survival rates than SA (66.7%) strain at extremely low pH concentration (pH 1.5) compared to other tested strains; while most of the strains tolerate bile salt at low concentrations (0.3%) which mimic the human small intestine environment. The growth rate of the tested strains decreased in proportion to the increase of bile salt concentrations. All the strains elicited different levels of antimicrobial activities against selected pathogens. Only the LP1, SC3 and SA strains showed greater inhibitory effect against Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes. The result suggested that LP1, LP2, SC3, CG2, LL2 and SA were technologically interesting and could be developed as starter cultures for the manufacturing of novel functional fermented foods.

Chye Fook Yee

Papers

Original Article Microbiological Quality and the Impact of Hygienic Practices on the Raw Milk Obtained from the Small-scale Dairy Farmers in Sabah, Malaysia

Microbiological characterization of , an indigenous malaysian fish sauce

Probiotic Potential and Antimicrobial Activities of Micro-organisms Isolated From an Indigenous Fish Sauce