Survival and growth of selected pathogens in fermented kocho (Ensete ventricosum)

Abstract

A study was conducted to investigate the antagonistic potential of fermented kocho, aqueous extract of fermented kocho and spent media from lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from it on Salmonella sp, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella sp, Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus. Fermented kocho (pH 4.3) inhibited growth of the test bacteria soon after their introduction into the food. The spent media from all of the four LAB, isolated from fermented kocho, namely Pediococcus sp, Leuconostoc sp, Lactobacillus sp and Streptococcus sp prevented the survival and growth of the test bacteria. The spent medium from Streptococcus sp showed the best antagonistic effect amongst all the LAB isolates. In all cases the inhibitory effects were independent of pH.