Bacterial diversity and community level physiological profiling of terasi (Indonesian shrimp paste) to ensure its food safety

Abstract Fermentation is a technology to increase the economic value and preserve of seasonal products such as tiny shrimps. This study aimed to ensure the safety and the length of production time of shrimp paste by determining the bacteria involved, during the shrimp paste fermentation process with 10% and 15% salt content. Identification of halophilic bacteria by 16S rRNA used primers 27F and 1492R. Identification of unculturable bacteria used bacterial amplification in the V3-V4 rRNA region. Bacterial activity was observed using the Community Level Physiology Profiling technique. The results showed that the dominant bacteria in shrimp paste with 10% and 15% salt were culturable, i.e., Staphylococcus nepalensis, Salinicoccus qingdaoensis , and Staphylococcus cochnii . In the unculturable identification, the dominant bacteria in shrimp paste with 10% salt were Alkalibacillus, Alkalibacterium , Tetragenococcus , whereas the shrimp paste with 15% salt was dominated by genus of Salimicrobium, Staphylococcus , Corticicoccus , Alkalibacterium and Lentibacillus . The shrimp paste with 10% salt used a high amount of carbohydrate and carboxylic acid substrate. Both 10% and 15% salt of terasi were safe to consume due to no pathogenic bacteria contained. The production of shrimp paste with 10% salt is more profitable due to the low production cost and faster production time.