Diversity of LAB population associated to chicha, a traditional maize-based fermented beverage from Northwestern Argentina assessed by pyrosequencing and culture-dependent molecular identification

AZNAR, ROSA; ELIZAQUIVEL, PATRICIA; PÉREZ, ALBA; YÉPEZ, ALBA; JIMÉNEZ, EUGENIA; ARISTIMUÑO, CECILIA; COCCONCELLI, PIER. S.; VIGNOLO, GRACIELA

Egmond aan Zee

Simposio; 11th International Symposium on Lactic Acid Bacteria. Health, Sustainability, Diversity, and Application; 2014

FEMS

Chicha is a traditional maize-based alcoholic beverage from Andean regions which manufacturing process is a household and communal activity. In this study, samples from two chicha productions were obtained from local producers at Maimará (chicha M) and Tumbayá (chicha T) each of them exhibiting particular production procedures. Presumptive lactoc acid bacteria (LAB) (146 chicha M, 246 chicha T) recovered from samples of 10 production steps were identified by ISR-PCR and RAPD-PCR profiles, species specific PCR and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. In chicha M, most of the isolates belonged to Leuconostoc genus (Lc. mesenteroides and Lc. lactis) although Lactobacillus, Weissella and Enterococcus were also present. In contrast, chicha T exhibited the presence of Enterococcus and Leuconostoc while E. faecium was the most representative species during fermentation. As a complementary approach, chicha samples were analyzed by pyrosequencing of the V3-V5 region in the 16S rRNA gene to obtain a snapshot of the global bacterial population. Results revealed that 12 and 13 families were present in chicha M and T, respectively; among them nine families were detected in both productions. Regarding LAB, six genera were identified from both chicha productions: Enterococcus, Lactococcus, Streptococcus, Weissella, Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus whereas Pediococcus was only detected in chicha M. Identification at species level showed that while Lb. plantatrum, Lb. rossiae, Lc. lactis and W. viridescens predominated in samples of chicha M, E. ratti and Lc. mesenteroides were the most abundant species in chicha T. Results from this study provided information on this unknown microbial genetic reservoir and confirmed the survival of LAB during alcoholic fermentation, a first crucial stage in determining their role and significance.