Morphological characteristics of halophilic bacteria in traditional salt production

The use of bacteria in improving the quality of salt on a laboratory scale is still minimal. Bacteria are found in seawater as raw materials for various types of salt. One of the bacteria that are tolerant to salinity levels in raw saltwater is halophilic bacteria. Exploration of halophilic bacteria isolates contained in seawater as raw material for salt is an effort to provide initial information on the use of these bacteria in improving the quality and quality of salt. This study aims to determine the morphological characteristics and gram grouping of halophilic bacteria contained in raw water, reservoir water, and evaporator water during the traditional salt production process. The methods used in this study were bacterial isolation, purification, and gram staining test. Morphological characteristics were carried out by visual observation of bacterial colonies formed in Petri dishes, while the gram test of bacteria was carried out by staining pure isolates. Morphological characteristics and groupings of gram bacteria were observed under a CX43RF binocular microscope with a digital camera type MDCE-5C. The results of this study found 2 isolates circular in raw saltwater, 5 isolates in irregular, filamentous and circular shapes in reservoir water, and 3 isolates in circular and filamentous shape in purification water. The bacterial isolates found varied in the form of groups of gram-negative bacteria and groups of positive bacteria, while the predominant form of bacteria was bacilli. The results of this study are expected to be initial information that can be used as a reference to improve the quality and quantity of salt production.