Genomic, biochemical and microbial evaluation of probiotic potentials of bacterial isolates from fermented sorghum products.

Fermented products, including and , provide several health benefits, particularly when probiotics are used in the fermentation process. Probiotic microorganisms exert strain-specific health-promoting activities on humans and animals. The objective of this study was to investigate the probiotic potentials of Lactic-acid bacteria (LAB) isolates from indigenous fermented sorghum products ( and ). The LAB isolates were screened for potential probiotic properties by antagonistic activity against eight enteropathogenic clinical bacteria isolates ( sp. sp. sp. sp. sp. and ) as indicator organisms using the agar well diffusion technique. The organisms were also screened for acidity, bile tolerance, antibiotic susceptibility, production of lactic acid, diacetyl and hydrogen peroxide. β-galactosidase assay was also done. Genomic DNA was extracted from the two selected LAB isolates; the 16S rRNA were amplified and sequenced. The sequence data were subjected to Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) and molecular phylogenetic analyses to identify the isolates. The isolates were identified as strains of and The sequence data for these two isolates were submitted to the Genbank with accession numbers KP883298 and KP883297 respectively. The strain (PB2) strain exhibited β-galactosidase activity as well as strain (OB6). The study revealed exceptional probiotic potentials of two LAB namely strain (OB6) and strain (PB2) isolated from fermented sorghum products, and respectively. Hence, the two LAB strains may be potentially used as probiotic to prevent some enteropathogen-induced gastrointestinal disorders; reduce the incidence of respiratory tract infections and for the management of lactose in intolerance.