Isolation and characterisation of lactic acid bacteria from traditional koumiss and kurut

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from traditional koumiss and kurut samples and identification of these isolates revealed the presence of Lactobacillus fermentum, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus durans, and Lactobacillus helveticus species. L. fermentum and L. helveticus strains were further tested for different characteristics. All tested strains produced heteropolymeric exopolysaccharides (EPS) with the presence of glucose and galactose as sugar monomers whereas three strains produced fructan type EPS as homopolymeric EPS. Important levels of antibacterial and antifungal activities were observed in these strains. All tested strains were sensitive to the antibiotics tested except streptomycin. Half of the tested strains showed important levels of survival ability under mimicking gastrointestinal conditions.