ISOLATION AND MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION OF LACTIC ACID BACTERIA (LAB) IN COCONUT MILK FERMENTATION

capacity to isolate the growth of pathogenic bacteria, where in contrast is harmless for other good bacteria. LAB is found in material fermentation containing high carbohydrate and protein like coconut milk which is undergone the process becoming Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO). In the fermentation process, there were three layers formed; oil, blondo, and water (waste). The LAB isolation on coconut milk fermentation used MRSA + 0,5% CaCO3 as the selective media. with the dilution from 10-1 to 10-7. Here, each sample was taken from each layer formed in the milk fermentation process. The identification was carried out in two ways, first was morphology identification, and the second one was molecular identification applying the PCR method. There were 97 isolates obtained from oil layer, 23 isolates from Blondo layer, and 14 isolates from water layer. After being identified well based on both morphology, and molecular on the oil layer, there were six LAB found, which were Lactobacillus paracasei, Lactobacillus plantarum, Micrococcus luteus, Corineaebacterium bovis, Lactobacillus thermobacterium dan Corineaebacterium xerocis. Three types of LAB within the blondo were identified as Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactobacillus thermobacterium. Keywords: Isolation, molecular identification, Virgin Coconut Oil (VC)_, Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB), PCR