Comparison of lactic acid bacteria diversity during the fermentation of Tarhana produced at home and on a commercial scale.

In this study, lactic acid bacteria diversity during the fermentation of homemade and commercially prepared Tarhana, a traditional fermented cereal food from Anatolia, was determined and compared. The isolates collected from Tarhana dough were differentiated according to their (GTG)5 profiles and then identified using 16S rDNA and pheS gene sequences. The variation of lactic acid bacteria during fermentation was also screened using PCR-DGGE. Commercially prepared Tarhana dough was fermented with higher Lactobacillus spp. diversity than homemade Tarhana dough. Lactobacillus casei, L. alimentarius, L. fabifermentas, and L. paralimentarius were identified differently from the fermentation of commercially prepared Tarhana dough. PCR-DGGE analysis revealed that L. plantarum was the main strain for homemade Tarhana, whereas L. brevis and L. alimentarius were observed in commercially prepared Tarhana dough fermentation. In conclusion, L. plantarum, L. brevis and L. alimentarius can be useful as a potential starter culture for the industrial production of Tarhana.