Researchers found that tungrymbai, a fermented soybean product of Meghalaya, India, contained probiotic properties. The findings of this paper, which was conducted by the Tezpur University, was published in the journal Acta Alimentaria.

• The researchers looked at the potential probiotic properties from bacteria isolated from tungrymbai.
• To test how it fares when it is digested by people, the isolated bacteria were put under conditions that simulated the gastric system. After the tests, five acid-tolerant strains were selected.
• Researchers identified the strain using 16S rDNA sequencing and found the bacteria to be the under the Enterococcus species, which showed adaptability in high concentrations of bile salts.
• The Enterococcus isolates were also observed to possess antimicrobial properties against bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.
• The Enterococcus strains found in tungrymbai were gelatinase negative and non-hemolytic. In addition, these were also noted to absorb cholesterol.

The findings revealed that the five strains identified from tungrymbai possess in vitro probiotic properties.

Journal reference:

Malakar B, Das A, Deka S. IN VITRO PROBIOTIC POTENTIAL OF ENTEROCOCCUS SPECIES ISOLATED FROM TUNGRYMBAI, A FERMENTED SOYBEAN PRODUCT OF MEGHALAYA, INDIA. Acta Alimentaria. 2016;46(3):297–304. DOI: 10.1556/066.2016.0017