Propolis and honey produced by stingless bees are regarded as high economic value products due to their bioactive components, which are significantly influenced by conditions at the cultivation location. This study investigated the effect of cultivation location on the amount and quality of propolis and honey produced by Tetragonula laeviceps cultivated in Modular Tetragonula Hives. Fifteen bee colonies were cultivated for at least three months in coffee plantations at two different locations, namely Cibodas and Cileunyi Wetan, Indonesia. The propolis was harvested from the hives and then evaluated to compare product quality from each location. The average production of propolis in both locations was found to lie in the range of 4.26-4.54 g/colony/month with a flavonoid content of 11.4-14.8 mg/g qE. Meanwhile, the average production of honey in both locations after eight months of cultivation was found to lie in the range of 0.93-1.44 g/colony/month. The vitamin C content of the honey obtained from both locations was 17.2-69.5 mg/100 g with an IC 50 of 1188-1341 mg/L, in terms of its ability to inhibit the free radical 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl. This study shows that cultivation of stingless bees on a coffee plantation in the studied locations has the potential to provide sustainable production of propolis and honey from T. laeviceps.
Nowadays, the search for potential probiotics from lactic acid bacteria continues to develop exclusively for pharmaceutical applications. This study aimed at evaluating the potency of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from fermented brine of romaine lettuce as next-generation probiotics. The study began with romaine lettuce fermentation in a 10% salt solution for four days at room temperature in the dark. The LAB from the fermentation liquid were grown on MRS agar supplemented with CaCo3 then purified. Purified colonies were identified using Gram-staining, catalase test, and 16S rRNA gene marker, and tested for their ability to be developed as the next-generation probiotics which included the following criteria: antibacterial activity, cholesterol assimilation, and their survival at pH3. The cholesterol-lowering ability was evaluated by incubating the bacteria in MRS agar supplemented with 0.5% taurodeoxycholic acid (TDCA). Well diffusion method was used to assess the antibacterial activity. Their ability to withstand acid environment at pH 3 was also evaluated. This study showed that all isolates (AS1, AS2, AS3, and AS4) survived at pH 3 for 2 hours and grew until the fifth day. Isolates AS2, AS3, and AS4 inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, while AS1, AS3, and AS4 inhibited the growth of Escherihia coli. All isolates had the ability to lower cholesterol. Isolate AS3 was molecularly identified as Enterococcus faecium. This isolate was chosen to be identified as it showed the best characteristics among all the isolates tested. We concluded that AS3 can be further developed as next-generation probiotic.
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