Author(s)

Imen Mahmoudi^1*, Olfa Ben Moussa¹, Tedj El Moulouk Khaldi^2,3, Yves Le Roux^2,3, Mnasser Hassouna¹

¹Unité de Recherche “Bioconservation et Valorisation des Produits Agro-Alimentaires” (UR 13AGR 02), école Supérieure des Industries Alimentaires de Tunis (ESIAT), El Khadhra, Tunis, Tunisia.
²Université de Lorraine, Unité de Recherche “Animal et Fonctionnalités des Produits Animaux” (UR AFPA), équipe “Protéolyse & Biofonctionnalités des Protéines & des Peptides” (PB2P), Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France.
³INRA, Unité de Recherche “Animal et Fonctionnalités des Produits Animaux” (UR AFPA), Unité Sous Contrat 340, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France.

One hundred strains isolated from bovine raw milk, obtained from different farms, were subjected to different in vitro stress typical of gastrointestinal tract. Twelve strains were able to tolerate pepsin at pH 2, pancreatin and bile salts (0.3%). These bacteria were identified using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Eight isolates were Lactobacillus plantarum and four were Lactobacillus fermentum. They were not able to degrade mucin and they were γ-haemolytic. All strains had antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella thyphimirium. However, only six strains inhibited Escherchia coli. All these showed ability for autoaggregation and/or hydrophobicity properties. They were also characterized in respect to their technological properties. Important acidification and low proteolytic and lipolytic capacities were detected for all strains. In addition, they were able to produce exopolysaccharides and grow at hot and cold temperatures. These bacteria may be used further for manufacturing of functional foods and confirming their suitability as probiotic starter cultures.

Bovine Raw Milk, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus fermentum, Probiotic, Functional Foods

Mahmoudi, I. , Moussa, O. , El Moulouk Khaldi, T. , Le Roux, Y. and Hassouna, M. (2018) Characterization of Lactobacillus Strains Isolated from Bovine Raw Milk for Probiotic and Technological Properties. Advances in Microbiology, 8, 719-733. doi: 10.4236/aim.2018.89048.