Ecological Succession free essay sample

To be able to effectively determine and differentiate the various types of bacteria present during a two week fermentation process of both cabbage and cucumber using a variety of selective media. If fermentation is performed, then the CFU/ml of the bacteria should decrease along with the pH. Introduction: The fermentation of foods has been a long standing tradition and practice among many civilizations, as it was once a means to keep foods fresh and or edible over long periods of time. Today the process of fermentation has become a living/industry for some, and a hobby for others. For the purposes of this lab it was asserted that there will be no use of vinegar (ascetic acid), and instead merely distilled water, salt, and spices all packed in with the provided produce and sealed tightly. It is then suspected that over time the bacterial counts will decrease given that the appropriate dilutions are selected, the pH will then in turn drop due to the build-up of gases and acid production during the fermentation process. We will write a custom essay sample on Ecological Succession or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Thus, the produce utilized for this experiment was cabbage and cucumber that were shredded and or sliced as desired for fermentation. Materials and Methods: There were deviations to the materials and methods provided via the lab protocol and the information produced within the lab manual background packet all available on blackboard. The EC plate is selective towards enteric bacteria, and the PS plate is selective to the species Pseudomonas, both of which are not ideal for consumption. Whereas, the data for the cucumber during the 14 day fermentation process showed growth on the PS for days 0-7 then declined. While the EC displayed a pattern of growth, decline, and on the last day displayed growth. It was also interesting to see the differences between the LSD plate growth between the cabbage and the cucumber. The cabbage showed a gradual increase in the CFU/ml, where the cucumber showed a gradual decline in the CFU/ml over the 2 week span. However, the LSD plate for the cucumber on Day 0 was the only plate that showed selection for Streptococcus. Furthermore, the results for both the anaerobic and aerobic TSA plates showed no significant change or rather the values remained relatively consistent. Lastly, there was nothing erroneous for both WN5 plate results and the cucumber and cabbage both were assumed to contain Pediococcus due to the consistent values present on each plate over the course of the experiment. All in all, the cabbage displayed the most desirable results with no growth present on both the EC and PS plate, and the bacteria that were expected to grow or remain during the process were present at the end of day 14. On the other hand, the cucumber produced unfavorable results with growth on the EC plate throughout the entire 2 weeks on matter how small the dilution. Other than the EC plate, the remainder of the plates showed what was expected to occur among the various selective media.