[01] Obi Clifford Nkemnaso, Department of Microbiology, College of Natural Sciences, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Umuahia, Nigeria.

The enzymatic potentials of Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from fresh palm wine in Ikwuano L. G. A namely Umuariaga, Amawom, Oboro and some markets around Umuahia North and South in Abia State were evaluated. Fresh palm wine samples were collected from the tappers between 6 and 9am using sterile labeled bottles. The bottled were packed in ice packed container and quickly transported to the laboratory for analyses. The samples were serially diluted and inoculated by spread plate method in duplicates onto De Man Rogosa Sharpe (MRS) Agar and incubated at 35°C for 48 hrs for the isolation of LAB. Six LAB isolates namely Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus pentosus, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactococcus spp and Leuconostoc spp were recovered from fresh palm. Result showed that all the isolates gave positive amylase, protease and lipase activities. The optimum temperature for enzymatic activity was 50°C for the three enzymes while the optimum pH was in the range 5.0. At the optimum temperature, amylase activity was 9% at pH 5.0, lipase activity was 5.33% and protease activity was 6.14%. The LAB isolates also demonstrated resistance to amoxyl and tetracycline antibiotics. It was concluded that palm wine is a good source of different species of Lactic Acid Bacteria and as such has the potential for increases utility value as raw materials for industries in sourcing for different enzymes that can work at thermophilic temperatures typical of industrial setting.

Activity, Enzymatic Potential, Fermentation, LAB, Palm Wine

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