Abstract

A total of thirty lactic acid bacteria belonging to Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus plantarum, Pediococcus acidilactici, Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides were isolated from the various fermenting stages of white maize gotten from five western states of Nigeria namely Oyo (Ibadan), Lagos, Ondo (Akure), Ogun (Abeokuta) and Ekiti states for Massa production and were subjected to physiological tests. L. fermentum, L. plantarum, P. acidilactici had high survival rates of between 4.00 – 5.23 log₁₀ cfu/ml at a very low pH value of 2. L. lactis produced the highest quantity of lactic acid (8.00 g/l) while L. plantarum produced the highest quantity of hydrogen peroxide (1.68 g/l). A high percentage of phytic acid (5.52 - 6.47%) was produced by L. fermentum, L. plantarum and P. acidilactici. L. fermentum, L. plantarum and P. acidilactici grew well at both low and high temperatures of 10 and 45°C, respectively. All the isolates survived freezing and spray drying conditions with L. plantarum and P. acidilactici having the highest survival rate of 5.62 log₁₀ cfu/ml during freezing while L. fermentum had the highest survival rate of 5.45 log₁₀ cfu/ml during spray drying. All the isolates produced protease and amylase enzyme but did not produce cellulase enzyme. These results showed that the phenotypic diversity of the lactic acid bacteria flora during maize grains fermentation depended on the variety of maize and the sampling location.

Key words: Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), phenotypic, diversity, Massa.