Paper Title
Assessment of Potential Probiotic Properties Lactic Acid Bacteria From Shrimp Paste or Belacan

Abstract
Lactic acid bacteria or LAB in fermented foods is commonly associated with probiotic properties. Thus, this study was conducted to evaluate the probiotic properties of LAB isolated from Malaysian fermented shrimp paste or belacan. A total of 219 bacterial isolates were successfully isolated from twenty-seven different samples of belacan on MRS agar supplemented with 0.5% calcium carbonate. Only 166 bacteral isolates or 75.8% were identified as catalase-negative, rod- shaped, and Gram-positive. However, only thirteen isolates (7.8%) of LAB (I3, I8, N1, O1, O2, O3, R2, S1, T3, V3, X4, Y1, and Z1) could survive in both acidic (pH2, pH3, and pH4), and bile conditions (1%, 3%, and 5% ox bile). Hydrophobicity test was also done to identify the extent of the thirteen LAB survivals under anaerobic condition. Results found that all LAB isolates showed percentage hydrophobicity >50% and higher (P<0.05) than commercial probiotic Lactobacillus casei CRL 431 ® . The percentage hydrophobicity ranged between 51.4 and 61.5%. Thus, this findings showed that the LAB isolated from belacan have a potential probiotic properties but further study need to be evaluated for the probiotic purposes in food products. Keywords- Shrimp Paste; Lactic Acid Bacteria; Acid and Bile Tolerance; Hydrophobicity Test