Microorganisms associated with amylolytic starters and traditional fermented alcoholic beverages of North Western Himalayas in India

摘要

Traditional alcoholic brewing is generally a home-based industry mostly practiced by the ethnic people of Himalayas. Chhang, jau chhang and sura are the three most popular cereal based traditional fermented alcoholic beverages prepared and consumed bytribal and rural folks of Himachal Pradesh (North West Himalayas) using traditional inocula 'phab' and 'dheli'. The numbers of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were in range of 1.7 x10~4 CFU/g in chhang, 2.9 x10~4 CFU/g in jau chhang, and 1.9 x10~7 CFU/g in sura. LAB isolates were strains of Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus casei, Enterococcus faecium and Pediococcus pento-saceus based on comparison of the sequence of 16S rRNA genes. Yeasts were identified from all the three beverage samples with cellnumber ranging from 3.5 x10~4 CFU/g for chhang, 1 x10~5 CFU/g for jau chhang and 5.5 x 10~5 CFU/g for sura. Sequencing of D1 /D2 26S rDNA regions identified the yeasts as Sacchar-omyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces fibuligera, Pichia kudriavzevii and Candida tropicalis.