Batch anaerobic spontaneous fermentation of garlic: time-axis analysis of species diversity: article

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 100, 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.