VOLUME 63 : 2015

High cholesterol levels are explicitly linked to cardiovascular diseases which are the leading causes of death worldwide. Treatments such as statins often have undesirable side effects or high costs. Probiotics have been gaining popularity as a possible alternative for management of various illnesses. Cocowater kefir has exhibited cholesterol-lowering ability, attributed to the lactic acid bacteria present. Thus, the study aims to identify the specific strain of lactic acid bacteria involved to ascertain the cholesterol-lowering property and probiotic potential of microorganisms isolated from cocowater kefir. Lactic acid bacteria were isolated and purified from cocowater kefir and screened for its cholesterol lowering activity through colorimetric cholesterol assay (CHOD-PAP). The cocowater kefir strain of lactic acid bacteria showed significant cholesterol-lowering property with respect to a standard microorganism. The cholesterol concentration was 66.27 mg/dL and 29.00 mg/dL after 24 and 48 h incubation with isolated lactic acid bacteria. The cholesterol inoculated with lactic acid bacteria was computed and a decrease in cholesterol levels to 8.31 and 43.06 mg/dL at 24 and 48 h incubation was obtained. The genomic DNA of lactic acid bacteria isolated was extracted and sequenced. The strain was identified through sequence analysis as Lactobacillus plantarum with 99% identity. The DNA sequence of the isolated lactic acid bacteria was deposited in the GenBank with a definition of L. plantarum strain KFR1, 16S ribosomal RNA gene, partial sequence with an accession number of KT581997.

Keywords: probiotics, cholesterol, cocowater kefir, L. plantarum