According to fermentative profile obtained using the API 50 CH system, the AC-1 strain was identified as Lb. plantarum. Frequently, biochemical identification results are unreliable for LAB, especially for strains that show atypical fermentation profiles. However, this approach can be used as an easy screening tool for identification of most common LAB species ( Švec et al., 2007).
The initial biochemical identification result was confirmed through partial gene sequencing of the 16S rRNA. The sequence obtained for the AC-1 strain contained 97% identity to the closest relative sequence with accession BLAST number EU825657.1.