Artisan cheese: a potential source of wild lactic acid bacteria to obtain new starter cultures

Our study aimed to evaluate technological aspects of lactic acid bacteria isolated from artisan coalho cheese, for obtaining a new starter culture. For this purpose, different bacterial genera were isolated, identified and determined as their acidifying capacity (pH and lactic acid), antagonist activity and proteolytic activity. The results showed that the bacterial population consisted mostly of cocci, among which are Lactococcus, Leuconostoc , Enterococcus and Streptococcus , in addition to Lactobacillus in an approximate ratio of 1:3.5:13:2:1.5, respectively. The microorganisms were classified as fast and slow acidifying, an important balance to the formulation of a new starter culture. Regarding the proteolytic capacity, the qualitative test for protease production showed only few halos, although all extracellular extracts have presented proteolytic enzymes with peaks of production(maximum of 11.71 U/mL)between 24 and 48 hours of cultivation. Around 42.2% of the analyzed bacteria showed antagonistic activity against Escherichia coli , Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus . Therefore, it is possible to assume that the lactic acid bacteria isolated from artisan Coalho cheese have great potential for the use in dairy industry as starter cultures.