Microbiology of mesu, a traditional fermented bamboo shoot product

The use of mesu as a pickle and as the base of curry is a tradition in the Darjeeling hills and Sikkim of India. A total of 327 strains of lactic acid bacteria, representing Lactobacillus plantarum, L. brevis and Pediococcus pentosaceus were isolated from 30 samples of mesu. These species were present in all samples of raw bamboo shoots tested. Mesu was dominated by L. plantarum followed by L. brevis; P. pentosaceus was isolated less frequently and recovered from only 40-50% of the mesu samples. The fermentation was initiated by P. pentosaceus, followed by L. brevis, and finally succeeded by L. plantarum species. During fermentation, the titratable acidity increased from 0.04 to 0.95%, resulting in the decline in pH from 6.4 to 3.8.