The bacterial community in ‘taberna’ a traditional beverage of Southern Mexico

• Published in: Letters in applied microbiology Vol. 51; no. 5; pp. 558 - 563
• Main Authors: Alcántara‐Hernández, R.J., Rodríguez‐Álvarez, J.A., Valenzuela‐Encinas, C., Gutiérrez‐Miceli, F.A., Castañón‐González, H., Marsch, R., Ayora‐Talavera, T., Dendooven, L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-11-2010; Blackwell
• Subjects: Acetobacter; Acrocomia; Arecaceae - microbiology; Bacteria; Bacteria - classification; Bacteria - genetics; Bacteria - isolation & purification; bacterial diversity; Beverages - microbiology; Biodiversity; Biological and medical sciences; coyol palm (Acrocomia aculeata); DNA, Bacterial - genetics; DNA, Ribosomal - genetics; Fermentation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; lactic acid bacteria; Lactobacillus; Mexico; Microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Pantoea agglomerans; Phylogeny; traditional alcoholic fermentation; Zymomonas mobilis; Central America; Mexico; America; Lactic acid bacteria; Applied microbiology; Insecta; Diversity; traditional alcoholic fermentation; coyol palm (Acrocomia aculeata); Fermented product; bacterial diversity; Alcoholic fermentation; Arthropoda; Hymenoptera; Invertebrata; Beverage; Microbial community; Aculeata
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1472-765X.2010.02934.x
• EISSN: 1472-765X
• ISSN: 0266-8254

Aims:  To characterize the bacterial community of taberna, an alcoholic traditional beverage from the Southern part of Mexico produced by the fermentation of the coyol palm sap (Acrocomia aculeate).
Methods and Results:  Bacterial 16S rDNA libraries were constructed from metagenomic DNA extracted during the fermentation process at 0, 60 and 108 h. A total of 154 clones were sequenced, and 13, 10 and nine unique sequences were found at each sampling time. At the onset of the fermentation, Zymomonas mobilis, Fructobacillus spp., Pantoea agglomerans and other Gammaproteobacteria were detected. After 60 h, lactic acid bacteria were found and 30% of clones in the library were related to Lactobacillus nagelii, L. sucicola and L. sp. By the end of the experiment, i.e. after 108 h, the bacterial community included Z. mobilis, Lact. nagelii and Acetobacter pasteurianus.
Conclusions:  Our results suggest that Z. mobilis population represented an important proportion of the bacterial community (60–80%), as well as the lactobacilli during the fermentation process. The bacterial diversity was low and decreased as the fermentation progressed.
Significance and Impact of the Study:  This culture‐independent study suggests that Z. mobilis and lactobacilli play an important role in the alcoholic fermentation of the taberna beverage.