EXAMINATION OF NEWLY ISOLATED LACTOBACILLI FOR FORMING OF STARTER CULTURE CONSORTIUM WITH PROBIOTIC POTENTIAL: Starter cultures

Starter cultures having probiotic potential have been used in various food fermentation industries. More than 35 cultures isolated from various dairy and non-dairy sources were subjected to basic LAB properties and, subsequently, starter culture properties like acidification, milk clotting, flavour production, and proteolytic activity Five promising isolates identified by 16s rRNA sequencing are Streptococcus thermophilus (CUD2 &CUD3), Lactobacillus plantarum(FCW2&FCW4) and Lactobacillus fermentum (FC1). These cultures also displayed probiotic properties such as good tolerance to 0.8% bile salt, 6% NaCl, and viability at pH 3.5, antimicrobial activity (tested against E.coli, M.smegmatis, S.typhi, S.aureus, andP.aeruginosa).All cultures showed notable probiotic properties; CUD2 and CUD3 displayed milk clotting within 6 hours,L.plantarum FCW4 and L.fermentum FC1 showed good inhibition against all the indicator strains. The compatibility tests indicated that the cultures don't have any antagonistic activity among them and can be effectively used for suitable consortium development for applications in fermented foods.