2.4. Fermentation medium
The mahula flowers were grinded (flower:water ratio, 1:5) in a
mixer-cum-grinder (TTK Prestige Ltd., Bangalore, India) to make
slurry. The slurry was cooked by steaming at 120–122 C for 60–
80 min. After cooling (NH4)2SO4 was added to the slurry (as nitrogen
source at the concentration of 1 g l1) and pH of the medium
was adjusted to 5.5 and 6.5 for subsequent inoculation of the yeast
and bacterial culture, respectively. Then the slurry was inoculated
with 10% starter culture (dry weight basis). The flakes (n = 3) were
incubated for 96 h at the room temperature (30 ± 2 C).