Study on Potential of Vegetable Wastes as Alternative Media for Probiotics Growth

In modern days, agricultural waste such as vegetable waste has been increased tremendously due to rapid increment of population demand. This waste usually ends up being dumped in landfills which will eventually negatively impact the environment and indicate ineffective utilization of resources. Vegetable wastes such as tomatoes and cucumbers were used in this study, and they are rich in nutrients that have significant potential for utilization in the growth of various microorganisms such as probiotics. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the potential of vegetable waste as a probiotic culture medium. First, the proximate analysis of the vegetable waste was performed by rapid near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Probiotic Lactobacillus spp. were sourced from locally bought yoghurt and cultivated in MRS agar and broth with dried tomato and cucumber powder extracts. The cultures were incubated at 37 °C for 24 h, and the growth of the microorganisms was observed. This study demonstrated that the utilization of tomato and cucumber waste has significant potential as a medium for probiotic cultivation.