Batch anaerobic fermentation of garlic: time axis analysis of species diversity / Nur Nabihah Rosman

Allium sativum L. the scientific name for garlic is one of the valuable organic herbs in this world. Garlic is one of the eras old-fashioned remedy in health related problems. This precious herb frequently used in medicinal devotions and also clinically proved in treating certain disease. The diseases that were believed can be treated were hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, cold and magically it also have ability in minimizing the growth of tumour and directly prevent from atherosclerosis (M.Majewski,2013). The batch anaerobic spontaneous fermentation of garlic was conducted over a 3 months period at room temperature 25°C in 31 identical 500ml mineral water bottles. Whole unpeeled garlic was grinded in a blender (Waring) together with 10% w/w sugar (sucrose) and distilled water. The product was made up with distilled water to produce 10% w/v solution of garlic and sugar in water. Samples were taken at days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17, 22, 29, 37, 44, 51, 58, 65, 72 and 82 by harvesting a bottle and discarding it after use. Each sample was plated in different selective media at sample dilution of 10° , 10¹ , 10² , 10³ , 10⁴ and 10⁵ . The selective media comprise of Mc Conkey Agar, Urea Agar, and deMan Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) agar. Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) was used to detect fungi. Plate Count Agar (PCA) was used to determine the total viable cells per ml. Each growth was then subjected to gram staining. The results were then used in plotting species diversity versus time for the batch fermentation. As the main purpose is for scaling up, characterized of mixed culture fermentation is base that need to be strong in the mean time of the research project in progress.