First Report on Polyphenol-Mediated Postbiotic Enhancement in Indigenous Tamil Nadu Lactobacillus Species: Genomic Characterization and Pomegranate Biotransformation Metabolomics
¹M Karthikeyan and ¹*R Manju
1,1*Department of Microbiology, Hindustan College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore - 641028 (India) ¹*Corresponding Author: Dr. Manju. R (Professor) ¹E. Mail ID: Karthimicro93@gmail.com ¹*Corresponding Author E. Mail ID: manju.r@hicas.ac.in
ABSTRACT
Indigenous Lactobacillus strains from tropical dairy ecosystems remain largely unexploited for postbiotic production via polyphenol biotransformation, a critical knowledge gap impeding functional food innovation. To characterize indigenous Tamil Nadu dairy Lactobacillus isolates through genomic identification, probiotic functionality assessment, and pomegranate-mediated postbiotic metabolite profiling. Lactobacillus isolates were obtained from hybrid (Jersey– Sahiwal) and indigenous (Kangeyam breed) cow milk in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Species identification was confirmed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Probiotic attributes including bile salt tolerance, pH tolerance, NaCl tolerance, pancreatin resistance, haemolytic activity, and antibiotic susceptibility were evaluated. Postbiotic metabolites from pomegranate-supplemented and standard MRS media were extracted by ammonium sulfate precipitation and characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, FTIR, and TLC.