Identification and Antimicrobial Activity of Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Tualang Bee Honey

Malaysia tualang honey usually collected from the combs of Asia rock bees (Apis dorsata), which build their hives high up in the tualang tree (Koompassia excelsa). Tualang honey is used commonly as a medicinal product and as food in Malaysia. LAB strains have been discovered to exhibit antimicrobial properties even though especially in Malaysia, the research on LAB found from honey are still scarce. The study was conducted to isolate and identify lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from Tualang honey bee from East Coast Peninsular Malaysia. The Tualang honey identified LAB strains were further tested against several pathogenic bacteria by using well-diffusion method. The LAB were primarily identified by colony morphology, microscopy of Gram`s stain, biochemical tests and 16s rRNA sequencing method. 10 isolates LAB that has been identified as Leuconostoc mesenteroides (5 isolates), Lactobacillus kunkeei (4 isolates), and Lactobacillus farraginis (1 isolates) were selected for the characterization of antimicrobial agents produced by LAB.  It was found that from 10 isolates, 5 isolates exhibited strong antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus epidermidis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa results in excellent inhibition zones diameters larger than 15 mm. This study indicated that lactic acid bacteria isolated from Tualang honey has potential antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria and can be further characterized for health benefits and potential use in food industry at Malaysia. Keywords: Tualang Honey, LAB, pathogen, 16s rRNA sequencing, antimicrobial activity.